Nestled in a peaceful corner of the quaint Italian city of Reggio Emilia sits a tiny playground with basketball hoops glued on opposing walls. The playing surface is worn, bicycles are propped up around its perimeter and the spire of a small local church pokes over the top of the surrounding buildings.

Although beautiful, it’s at first unassuming and certainly not somewhere you would link to the glamorous world of the NBA. But this small playground in an idyllic pocket of Italy was once the second home of one of the greatest basketball players in history, Kobe Bryant.