Birds Flyin' High

- Peter Walsh

Growing up in Compton, CA, Richard Sherman attended basketball powerhouse Dominguez High School. While he made his mark on the football field and the track team, he paid close attention to the basketball world and is friends with plenty of world-class hoopers—including Kobe, KD and Russell Westbrook.

SLAM: What’s it like to be able to work with Kobe?

RS: I grew up a Lakers fan and am still a Lakers fan. It’s really cool and it’s a dream come true for a kid from L.A. to work with Kobe as a creative director for BODY- ARMOR’s “Obsession Is Natural” campaign. It’s about as good as it gets for me.

SLAM: Tyson Chandler was a huge recruit at Dominguez. Do you remember the hype around him back then?

RS: I was actually one of the ball boys when Tyson was there and he was making his run and they were going to state championships. I ran into him not too long ago at The Players’ Tribune and he remembered me being the ball boy. We had a good laugh at that and how far we’ve come.