MINNEAPOLIS — Some of the hottest days of the year in Eight Mile Rock, one of the oldest communities in West Grand Bahama, come in June. Temperatures reach into the mid-90s on a regular basis, and the breeze coming off the Atlantic Ocean was nowhere near enough to dry the beads of sweat pooling on a young Buddy Hield’s neck and back, the glow of the television illuminating his childhood home as he watched his hero go to war on a basketball court 2,500 miles away.
Even as an 8-year-old, watching Kobe Bryant’s Lakers topple Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals, Hield was able to recognize that Bryant’s drive and determination were unique. He watched Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal win three straight titles, then saw Bryant win two more after that. Sitting in a home packed with six siblings some 14 miles from the nearest township, Hield could not have been further from the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, from the prestige of the…
