George Kosturos, who plays college wrestler Ali Jahani in the new film “American Fighter,” joined the latest episode of The Fight Fan and talked about his sports fandom roots, which led him to a memorable interaction with Kobe Bryant.
Kosturos, a basketball lover growing up, found himself in enemy territory in his youth, though he typically got the last laugh as a Lakers fan.
“I actually grew up in Sacramento and was a huge Lakers fan during the Kings/Lakers rivalry,” Kosturos said. “Got us into so much deep, you know what, with a lot of people. I remember my brother, his teachers would give him an extra hard time because he would wear Lakers jerseys. We were just super fans of the Lakers.”
Kosturos’ Lakers allegiance took him to the team’s hotel when they were on the road for games against the Kings in the early 2000s, which most notably included LA’s thrilling series win over the Kings in the Western Conference Finals in a seven-game dogfight in 2002.
“I met Kobe, Shaq, Chick Hearn, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, we stalked them as kids,” Kosturos said. “My dad would take us all dressed up and we met them all at the hotel when they would come play in Sacramento. It was easy because we were the only Lakers fans in town.”
Kosturos’ most memorable interaction was with Bryant, who made sure to stop and take time out for a young fan despite the typical chaos surrounding the superstar.
“He had so many fans calling for him and I was a young kid, and my dad asked ‘Hey Kobe, can you take a photo with my kid?’” Kosturos said. “He stopped, turned, came back and took a photo with me, and just punched me on the arm and kept going. He didn’t talk to anybody else, because they were all adults with memorabilia.”
For a young Laker fan like Kosturos, the run-in with his childhood hero always stuck with him.
“It was cool that he saw I was just a kid fan and didn’t just want a signature,” Kosturos said. “He was super cool… Such a bummer that he passed away. That was really hard for a lot of people. He was like the hero of my age. He was one of my heroes growing up.”
While Kosturos’ Lakers are looking to make another championship run, “American Fighter” is now playing in theaters, continuing the story of Jahani’s journey from “American Wrestler: The Wizard.” In this sequel, Jahani takes up underground fighting to raise funds to save his mother.
“I’ve heard it’s playing amazing in theaters,” Kosturos said. “People love it. We watched it in the theatre the other day, and it’s just awesome on the big screen. It’s like another world on the big screen.”
Listen to Kosturos’ full interview on the latest episode of The Fight Fan below!
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