"The Kobe Bryant wants to train me?": When Hailey Van Lith recalled her unbelievable first interaction with the Lakers legend 

Months before Hailey Van Lith played her first game for the Louisville Cardinals, she was refining her game with the late Kobe Bryant. In the 2020 exclusive with SLAM, HVL shared that she was approached by the NBA superstar's representative during her high school years.

"I was in Thailand and his assistant hit me and was like, 'Hey, Kobe really likes your game, he thinks you're a baller. He wants to work with you, can you come out in the summer and train with him?" she said (Timestamp: 7:48)

At first, the Cashmere High School guard did not believe it was a real call from Bryant's assistant.

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

"I was like, 'Okay.' So, I texted hi back and I was like, 'Kobe Bryant? the Kobe Bryant wants to train me?'"

Hailey Van Lith shared that she trained for four days with Bryant, as the NBA legend helped her fine-tune her craft and bestowed knowledge about the sport.

HVL also said that the Los Angeles Lakers' all-time leading scorer discussed physical and mental toughness with her, along with several off-court aspects of being a player.

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Hailey Van Lith studied finance in high school to understand NIL

Hailey Van Lith was still in high school when the concept of NIL was thrown out for fans and college basketball representatives. Understanding that its implementation will change the landscape of college sports forever, HVL opted to study finance during her undergrad.

"I think people can be taken advantage of especially athletes financially. So, I think it's very beneficial for me to be at least somewhat educated ... and I actually got my undergrad in finance because of it (NIL)," she said in a partnership exclusive with Chase in Nov. 2024 (Timestamp: 2:28)

"I wanted to know how to understand my own money knowing that I could have an opportunity to set my kids up for their future, to set my kids' kids up if I know how to use my money correctly. That definitely inspired me to pursue Finance for my bachelor degree."

Hailey Van Lith has one of the largest NIL valuations in women's basketball at the moment. While the amount remains undisclosed, she is ranked seventh among all female athletes and fifth among female hoopers.