Subscribe
Follow Us
It should come as no surprise that another member of Kobe Bryant's family — his nephew, Jett Washington — is on track to be a superstar athlete. What is turning heads however is the fact that his sport of choice is football, not basketball.
Jett Washington, the son of Kobe's sister Sharia, is one of the most recruited college football prospects in the country. He's currently a junior at Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas, one of the nation's premiere sports programs. He already has offers from Michigan, Georgia, Florida, USC and dozens of other major universities.
He plays safety at Bishop Gorman but believes he can excel as a wide receiver at the college level as well. Washington recently told 247Sports, “A majority of schools see me as a safety, a free safety, but I think I could play receiver.”
“I think I could do a lot of things on the field,” he added.
That's not to say he doesn't excel on the basketball court too. Earlier this year Washington played under the bright lights of Crypto.com Arena in the Coastal Catholic Classic showcase event. He scored 33 points, including a buzzer beating 3-pointer to send the game into overtime (although Bishop Gorman ended up losing 82-81).
He acknowledged playing on the same court where his uncle, Kobe Bryant, became a Lakers legend and spent 20 years in the NBA, was a special moment.
The prospect has been brought up of Washington playing both football and basketball in college. “My main thing right now is probably football, but some schools have asked me and brought up the idea of playing two sports,” Washington told 247Sports.
“If they bring it up and it is something that is doable, I would be interested in it, but I'm not going to go out of my way and be like ‘I've got to play basketball here',” he added.
Kobe Bryant's family tree was already littered with pro athletes even before Jett Washington. Kobe's father Joe “Jellybean” Bryant played in the NBA for 8 years, before playing on European teams in Italy and France.
Kobe's uncle John “Chubby” Cox had a short stint with the Washington Bullets and Kobe's cousin John Cox played overseas for more than a decade.
So a pro sports career could certainly be in the cards for Jett Washington. And he's still got two more years of high school left to keep honing his skills — and to keep growing. He's currently 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, so it's possible he could end up being even taller than Kobe.
Jett Washington has a long way to go to fill his legendary uncle Kobe Bryant‘s shoes, but it seems he may be making a name for himself that is all his own.
