(CNN) For the first time since the NBA legend that … There he proved to be a star player on the courts, and earned enough honors and triumphs to make up for his lack of college basketball experience and to make the big jump to the NBA and the Lakers. Kobe Bryant's jersey is hanging again over the court where he played his high school basketball.

Lower Merion High School honored Kobe and Gianna Bryant and the seven other victims of Sunday's tragic helicopter crash before a game at the Bryant Gymnasium. Mr. Bryant’s connection to Lower Merion High School, where he played basketball prior to joining the NBA, has raised the profile of the high school and our District throughout the world. “Lower Merion and everything associated with it made me who I am,” Bryant said recently. High school players had made the leap to the NBA before Bryant did it in 1996. Our school community will always be grateful for his ongoing generosity to his alma mater, including his dedication of our Kobe Bryant Gymnasium and his support of our boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. Kobe Bryant at Lower Merion High School: After having spent a part of his childhood in Italy, Kobe Bryant attended Lower Merion High School.