Kobe Bryant spent the better part of his childhood in Italy, and was fluent in Italian. From ages 6 to 13, Kobe lived with his father, Joe Bryant, who played for several basketball teams in the country, The Washington Post reports. “All of the NBA players are important, because they’re legends, but he’s particularly important to us because he knew Italy so well, having lived in several cities here,” Italian basketball federation president Giovanni Petrucci told The Associated Press. “He had a lot of Italian qualities.”

“He spoke Italian very well. He even knew the local slang,” Petrucci added. Bryant, the Philly-born, 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the most iconic basketball players of his generation over a 20-year career with the L.A. Lakers, died on Jan. 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, Calif. He was 41.