The Kobe Generation: How Kobe Bryant inspired a wave of Texas football stars

Kobe Bryant inspired thousands of parents to name their kids after him, including several Texas high school football players and players playing college ball in Texas, including the Texas Longhorns' Kobe Boyce, Texarkana Texas High's Kobe Webster and Cy Ranch's Kobe Banks.
Shehan Jeyarajah

When Mary Flowers Boyce was pregnant with her first son, she and her husband David simply could not agree on a name. Mary pushed naming their son David, but the elder David shot it down. No matter what name was brought up, it kept getting rejected. 

But this was 1998 and a rising figure in Los Angeles was on the precipice of taking over the basketball world: Kobe Bryant. While the Boyces now lived in Texas, both were originally from Southern California. More importantly, both were die-hard lifelong Lakers fans. They immediately identified with this dynamic, young star. 

“When Kobe Bryant came along, he was just such a young, promising, fresh-faced youth, he was just everybody’s favorite,” Mary Flowers Boyce said. “That’s why we chose the name. We were really big fans of his.”

And thus, Kobe Boyce was born on July 11, 1998. 

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