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FEBRUARY 2020 | BUCKSHOT THE MAGAZINE
WHAT’S IN A NUMBER? LOCAL HOOPERS REFLECT ON THE DIGITS THEY WEAR
When Abe Rocksvold takes the court for Regis basketball, he wears the number 22. It’s the jersey he’s worn since he made his varsity debut three years ago. He’s kept the number because he said he’s made a name for himself in it, but it’s not the number he originally wanted as a sophomore and in hindsight, had he known what last month was going to bring, he said wishes he had switched numbers when this year started. Rocksvold has been a Kobe Bryant fan for as long as he can remember. He grew up in a household of Laker fans because his father, Adam, fell in love with basketball watching the Showtime Lakers of the 80s. That love was instilled in him since Rocksvold’s birth in 2001, so naturally he came of age in the 2000s watching Bryant and the Lakers. “I was just a huge Kobe guy growing up,” Rocksvold said. “He was the only person I ever watched, I ever cared about. … Even when the Lakers were bad for his last few years, I still wore number 24 because he was the man, he was the best.” Rocksvold said he used to come home from elementary school, hop on the computer and spend hours watching highlights of Bryant’s greatest moments — from the ally-oop to Shaquille O’Neal, to the 81-point game against the Raptors, to the laundry list of game-winning shots. So when he got the news late in January that Bryant, his daughter Gigi Bryant, and seven
others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Cali., Rocksvold was devastated. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “Kobe Bryant was like a part of our family.” Looking back, Rocksvold said he wishes he switched to wear 24 this season. He’s worn a Bryant number dating back to his earliest basketball days at the YMCA in second or third grade when he wore the number eight, Bryant’s original number from 1996 to 2006. When Rocksvold started playing AAU in fifth grade, he chose number 10, Bryant’s Olympic number after Bryant helped to lead Team USA to a gold medal in 2012. Eventually, like Bryant, as Rocksvold matured, he decided to switch to 24 on his AAU team, Wisconsin City Hoops. “That’s who I model most of my game after,” Rocksvold said of Bryant. “He motivated me a lot to play basketball, so to have his number kind of feels like that’s who I am, that’s how I play basketball.” For Rocksvold, it was Bryant’s “Mamba mentality,” that made Bryant special: his never-give up attitude, his unflappability and his willingness to play through pain. When he puts on one of Bryant’s numbers, he feels he adopts that mindset, embodying Bryant on the basketball court. Other locals have adopted similar reasons for wearing their jerseys. Eau Claire North’s Dalton Banks wears three because he grew up loving fellow 6-foot-1 point guard and NBA legend, Chris Paul.
STAFF PHOTO BY STEVE KINDERMAN
Abe Rocksvold of Regis puts up a shot in the paint against Altoona’s Evan Moss Tuesday, Feb. 4, at Regis.
