dailyloe.com – Amalia Holguin, a high school senior, has a day off from school and basketball playoffs. Her Sage Hill School team has a bye in the state playoffs. She is thinking about her upcoming 18th birthday and spring break. After graduation, she will play basketball at the University of Texas.
She plans a low-key birthday celebration with family and close friends. This may be her last birthday at home with her parents and sister. Prom and graduation will follow her birthday celebrations. Then she will pursue her dreams on the basketball court.
This summer, she will play hoops in Greece, where her family has roots. There, she will train with the Greek national team. After that, she will leave to begin her college career. Her schedule is intense even on a day off in March.
She has basketball practice for two hours with her school team. She starts earlier by getting up shots with an old coach. She finishes later with strength training and private skills coaching. Her schedule reflects the demanding world of modern elite youth hoops.
No other player carries quite the same weight as the Littlest Mamba. Amalia was the youngest AAU teammate of Gianna Bryant. By extension, she was the last high schooler coached by Kobe Bryant. She lost them in a helicopter crash six years ago.
The crash in Calabasas also killed Christina Mauser and Payton and Sarah Chester. Alyssa, John, and Keri Altobelli died alongside pilot Ara Zobayan. Amalia was not yet 12 years old when the tragedy occurred. The other members of that Team Mamba roster have all graduated.
They have all gone off to college, leaving Amalia as the last one. She is figuring out what it means to be the last of the Little Mambas. She is also determining what it means for her to be more than that. Her family’s fandom for Bryant runs deep.
When Amalia and her sister Elisa were in elementary school, they got a dog. Their parents named their new dog Kobe, like many other basketball fans. Bryant was the focal point of their Lakers fandom. He was a symbol, impossibly larger than life.
