BL: Now, Mrs. Mastriano, we should explain why your opinion counts. You were Kobe Bryant's 10th grade English teacher and then you had him again in 12th grade, right?

JM: I would walk away from grading this kind of a piece. I would definitely put it back in the lap of the writer and just ask about investment, ask about purpose: what were you going after? And I think he did the job.

Kobe Bryant’s words from the poem with which he announced that this would be his final NBA season.

JM: Oh, you've done some research? Speaking Arts, yes. We did a lot of writing in 10th grade. A lot of free-writes, a lot of writer's notebook free-writes, just getting the words out — the good words and the bad words, too.

BL: Were you surprised when Kobe Bryant referred to you as his "muse" in a pre-game press conference last week?

JM: It was the first time I had ever been indirectly called a demigoddess, right? A Muse, one of the nine sister goddesses of inspiration, right? Yeah, he wasn't even calling me a muse when he was in high school, but we had a good relationship.

He was remarkably disciplined in high school. He was getting pulled out to play with this team or that team, and he'd be gone for days, and he'd come back with the assignments in hand. That was super. I respected him a lot for that.

BL: There has been some debate, of course, about whether Kobe Bryant really wrote “Dear Basketball.” I am in the camp that says it’s pure Kobe. What do you think?

JM: I would second that. I don't know either. It took me completely by surprise. There's too strong a sense of through line, you know?

BL: Through line?

JM: Through line. Just a sense of, "I have a purpose. Get out of my way. I'm taking this down court and I'm getting it done." As a high school student, particularly as a sophomore, I'd give them assignments obviously to try this type of poetry, try this type of meter, move from free verse to meter. And he would always write about basketball. He'd always talk about being a pro ballplayer. Knowing what I know, when I knew him — in my defense — how many people can do that? So I guess I was trying to talk him in off that ledge, like, "Come on, how realistic can it be? I know you have this passion, but why don't you develop some sort of backup interest just in case?"Silly me.

BL: Well, I think it's fantastic that you and Kobe Bryant have maintained some sort of relationship as his basketball career has played out. I'm curious about whether you have a favorite Kobe story?

JM: When he made a very generous donation to the school, and we were dedicating the new gymnasium he came in — this could be lengthy, Bill. I don't know if this is...

BL: Not a problem, really.