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The West has got something to say.
“I definitely feel like we have the best players right now,” Inglewood native Christian Collins, the No. 4 player in the class of 2026, says. “I do feel like [the] East Coast plays with more grit. But don't get it twisted, because they think we not tough. We tough, fa sho.”
“West Coast players aren’t soft,” Riverside’s four-star forward Cydnee Bryant chimes in.
“We tough. We dawgs,” Christian adds.
“That’s facts,” Brandon McCoy Jr., the No. 7 player in the class, adds.
“That’s why we have the best players right now, Christian says. “Word.”
Pull up ESPN’s 2026 NEXT Rankings and you’ll see why the three players on the latest SLAM HS digital cover are talking their ish. The state of California is producing hardwood dominance like a factory. Five out of the top eight boys in the nation reside in the Golden State. For the ladies, 12 out of the top 100 players in the class of 2026 call California home. Home cooking, for real.
Christian Collins, Cydnee Bryant and Brandon McCoy Jr. have been dismantling the decades-old narrative surrounding Cali hoops in their own way. They play too laid back. Try keeping up with Brandon in the fast break, then. They’re too soft. Go ahead and try to rip a board out of Cydnee’s hands. They don’t play defense. Good luck trying to get a bucket against Christian and that 7-foot-plus wingspan.
The West Coast style of ball is known to be flashy. Lots of jumpers, lots of points. Lots of glitz, lots of glam. But if you were to ask the three hoopers on this cover, the visual marker for repping Los Angeles is about getting the job done. You just look dumb nice while doing it.
“I think that culture of Cali basketball appears in my game on both sides of the court. On the offensive side, you can see I play with a swag, and it's just natural. I'm not pressed to do anything too much,” Brandon says. “And then on defense, they say Cali people are soft. I feel like I play defense. I feel like the rest of my class in Cali plays defense. So, I don't know where that narrative is coming from. But we're going to break it soon.”
The fact is that nobody is touching Cali’s output. And they’re not afraid to boast about it either. If there were any outstanding questions about the legitimacy of L.A.’s high school scene heading into the upcoming season, the third annual Mamba League Invitational at the end of August put them to rest with a quickness.
Just a few hundred feet away from the arena where Kobe Bryant built his legacy with the purple and gold, the best high school players in the nation descended on L.A. Live to add to their own. This wasn’t your typical all-star game or get-up-and-down showcase. The kids were here to compete. For Christian, Cydnee and Brandon? To represent.
As a California native, playing in Nike’s tournament made in the image of Kobe Bryant’s mentality, on Kobe Bryant’s birthday, holds a very different type of weight. For St. John Bosco senior Christian Collins, it serves as an opportunity to attack the 10 challenges taped up on his bedroom wall.
“When I look at it, it's just a reminder I haven't made it yet. And even when I do make it, the job is not finished. There's so much more I want to accomplish. So I can't get satisfied with anything,” Christian says. “I never take anything for granted and continue to push, continue to strive to be the best I can, because he can take it in the snap of a finger. Every time I look at that, it's just a reminder of where I am and where I started and [to] just keep going.”
Kobe’s 10 Rules for Success, alongside a copy of Mamba Mentality that his Grandmother gifted him, were the rungs that Christian used to climb back from knee surgery in the eighth grade. When he returned as a freshman, expecting to make varsity, he was placed on JV.
“I just remember going against Tyler Rolison and James [McCallum] and Tajh [Ariza] and I was getting whooped every day in practice. I got humbled so bad I got put on JV. And then that fire just built inside of me,” he says. “It might sound crazy, but that’s how I feel like everything got started, just a setback and I had a major comeback. A major comeback.”
From unranked to JV to top-10 player in the nation, Kob’s 10 commandments kept stoking Christian’s competitive fire. Get better every day. Prove them wrong. Work on your weaknesses. The list of challenges has been fueling every jumper, every block and every flight to a different camp this summer, from his MVP performance at the Mamba League Invitational to preparing for his senior season. For him, the job’s never finished. Gatorade State Player of the Year is on his mind this year, his first being the Braves' No. 1 option. And he’s ready to get up with anybody. Not just ready, welcoming it.
“I'm going to just show everything I got in my bag,” he says. “I feel like I got a lot of stuff to prove and a lot of people to prove wrong, and that's what keeps me going. So I'm just going to keep going with that. Y'all going to see.”
For Brandon McCoy Jr., growing up in Oakland built a different type of chip into his game, but the spotlight remained down south. So for his freshman year, the 6-4 point guard moved to L.A. for the visibility and competition. The past three years at St. John Bosco have seen him do nothing but shine.
“I guess you see me more,” Brandon says about playing in L.A. “When I moved out here, went to a different high school, I learned things, had different experiences from Oakland. But, all that comes to who I am today. But, I feel like I've been playing the same way since I was little.”
The type of play style that Duke, Alabama and Arizona all want suiting up for them in 2026-27. He’s got a twitchy athleticism that lets him punch the rim with ease and create crazy separation on step-backs and side steps. All of it’s mad smooth, too, bouncing with the rock to a calculated rhythm.
“I think what stands out about Cali basketball is just the type of swag that we play with,” Brandon says. “I feel like everybody tries to hate the West Coast and California. We play too laid back. But I think that's what makes us Cali. We don't play like anybody else. And I think right now, we've got the best players. East Coast people are not going to like that. But it just is what it is.”
As he looks toward his senior year at Sierra Canyon, the five-star guard is leaning on the same competitive spirit that took root during 8U practices and watching his older cousin’s middle school game. Winning the Mamba League Invitational Championship with Team West was just the preview. “That's always been a part of me. And I think it just stuck with me, just going hard in every game and just playing my hardest,” Brandon says. “All I would say is, I just want to win state for my senior season. That's literally all I want, nothing more, nothing less.”
As the younger sister of San Antonio Spurs rookie Carter Bryant, Cydnee Bryant admittedly stayed away from playing basketball as a way to be her own person, finding herself through volleyball. It’s only recently that she began to grace the hardwood with the hoops lowered. This coming winter will mark year number three, to be exact. And in that short amount of time, she’s been on a straight tear, rising to No. 37 in the class of 2026, according to ESPN, and to fourth-best in the state.
“Basketball and volleyball bring me two different senses of peace, two different senses of excitement, explosiveness in the game. So, I think that change of pace was comfortable and familiar,” Cydnee says.
Whether the nets are raised or not, the 6-4 forward spikes shots all the same. The paint isn’t patrolled, it’s controlled with a feel around the basket that’s unmatched. She does her work early, creating prime position for board after board, contest after contest, and-one after and-one. From the basketball court to the volleyball court, Cydnee’s lone concern is searching for ways to contribute to a win. As long as she knows she locked up on that end, she can walk away from the game satisfied.
“On the offensive end, I'm not necessarily flashy. I get to it down low. I'm aggressive. I think I've had more offensive fouls than defensive fouls in my career, but it's all right,” she says. “Defensively, I hate losing more than I love winning, and defense wins championships, so I’m going to give it my all on the defensive end for sure.”
The Corona native’s parents both played and coached hoops and volleyball, so Cydnee’s competitive drive was instilled earlier than most. It’s evident in the physicality she plays with, in the passion that spills over after turning a loose ball into a bucket. “West Coast players definitely ain't soft,” Cydnee says. “Cause if I was soft, I wouldn't have finished No. 1 in rebounds and blocks in EYBL.”
“Let ’em know, big dawg,” Christian and Brandon both reaffirm.
As we wrap on our time together on the third floor of the JW Marriott hotel that borders the L.A. Live plaza, the trio representing California’s best are putting their words where their actions and stats have already been.
They’re repping the legacy of Kobe Bryant for a reason, his signature sheath logo shining in a golden metallic treatment on their jet-black threads. Nike’s L.A. team even cooked up an exclusive bright red Nike Kobe 5 Protro for the players, boasting a neon green snake detailing that matches the “Year of the Mamba” colorway from January.
Each player has their own interpretation of the Mamba Mentality, a collection of their individual experiences and takeaways with the game. The third installment of the Mamba League Invitational just presented a platform for them to showcase what they already knew to be true: California breeds ballers.
We’d say welcome to the takeover, but that’s well underway. So if you haven’t, it’s time to get familiar with the West Coast. Christian, Brandon and Cydnee are more than happy to show you the way.
