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Trinity Rodman and the rest of Team USA have made it to the Olympic finals and will go head-to-head with Brazil on Saturday. Along with forwards Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, the 22-year-old has earned the "triple threat" title, and they are all tied for the team lead in scoring at this Olympics with three goals. If they take home gold, Trinity will have a similar gold medal story as one of her biggest inspirations - Kobe Bryant.
Trinity could win gold at her first ever Olympics, which is what Kobe, who has a "girl dad" statue dedicated to him, did at his first games in the 2008 Beijing Games. The late athlete played a vital role in America's basketball “Redeem Team." He was 29 at the time, and four years later, helped Team USA win gold again at the London Games.
Trinity has opened up in the past about Kobe's influence on her as an athlete. In a recent interview with Vogue, she said Kobe was a big role model. "Obviously, I had a personal connection with him, so that added to it. He was just…his mentality was like no other," she explained.
"The way that he worked the court, the way that he would toy with defenders. I always preach that being able to play with the defense is a huge part of the game. Kobe was so mentally fit all the time. Even if his team lost, he was winning the one-on-one battle," the athlete continued.
Trinity has explained that she met the basketball legend when she was 6, playing on Natalia Bryant's team. Kobe would go to the games with her dad: "My earliest memory that I'll never forget was him talking to me after the game telling me I was going to be a stud at the age of six, which is like, ‘Hello.’ He was right," she told PEOPLE in 2023.
She also remembered his support of women athletes. "He made it very clear that women are capable of being as successful, if not more successful, than men. And I, for some reason, remembered that. But yeah, that changed my entire mindset moving forward with soccer,” she continued.