"All I cared about was being better than my brother": When Hailey Van Lith shared what fueled her passion for basketball

Hailey Van Lith shared a personal and hilarious story from her childhood to signify her passion for basketball. In an exclusive interview with Overtime in 2020, HVL shared that she picked up the ball simply to beat her older brother, Tanner. She added that the torch was passed during her fifth grade, when she crossed her brother during a one-on-one contest.

"I first started playing basketball because my older brother played it and I was so competitive that all I cared about was being better than him," she said (at 3:52).

"Fifth grade - we were like playing one-on-one one day and I literally broke his ankle. Like I crossed him so hard, I snapped it. He had to be in a boot and everything and hung up his shoes then. So, I took the basketball role in the family."

At the time of the exclusive, Hailey Van Lith was in the midst of her senior year at Cashmere High School in Washington. She averaged 32.6 points and 9.4 rebounds that year, winning several Player of the Year awards and entering college as the top combo guard in the country.

Years later, after she announced her transfer from Louisville to LSU in 2023, she reiterated the story in an interview with Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks. She also added that Tanner requested her to stop sharing the story with fans and media.

"It's actually funny because my brother literally brought this up to me like two days ago and he was like, 'Can you stop telling this story?'" she said (at 1:40) "I was like, "Why? It's the best story.' No, my brother, love him to death, my best friend on this whole planet."

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Kobe Bryant invited Hailey Van Lith to practice during her high school days

Before her senior season with Cashmere High School, Hailey Van Lith was approached by the late Kobe Bryant's assistant to have a workout with the NBA legend.

In a 2020 interview with SLAM, she shared that she initially did not think much of it, believing it was fake. However, she couldn't believe herself after two days, when Bryant's representative texted her again.

"The first contact I have with him, I was in Thailand and his like assistant like hit me and was like, 'Hey, Kobe really likes your game, like he thinks you're a baller. He wants to work with you, can you come out in the summer and like train with him maybe?" she said (at 7:46).

"I saw the text and I was like, 'Kobe Bryant? nah!' And then they texted me again like two days later. They're like, 'Hey, Kobe keeps talking about you, he really wants to work with you. You guys need to come out.'"

Hailey Van Lith caught the nation's eye early through her stellar high school run. She clinched many individual awards with Cashmere and also represented Team USA through two FIBA World Cup gold medal runs.