Schea Cotton remembers the summer of 1995 when he had the chance to face Kobe Bryant.

"Physically I was just way too much for him," Cotton says.

Cotton's team also won the game, and this head-to-head encounter between two of the nation's top high school players created mutual respect.

"We developed a bond from that point, because I don't know if he ever played against a guy who went at him like I did," Cotton says. "I felt the same way about his encounter with me. I said, wow, this guy just kept coming at me, even after he knew that I'd got the better end, he just kept coming. And I loved that, because that's how I was as a player. I didn't back down from anybody."

Cotton became a first-team Parade All-American as a high school junior in 1996. Others selected that year included future NBA stars Lamar Odom, Jermaine O'Neal, Mike Bibby -- and Bryant.

But Cotton never played in the NBA.

"I was a sure-fire guy for the NBA," Cotton says. "It didn't work. It didn't happen. Things happened out of my control. My career went a different direction. So at the end of the day, if it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone's kid."

To tell his story, Cotton has produced a documentary titled "Manchild," which has been screened at various film festivals the past few years. It premieres Tuesday June 23 on multiple streaming platforms, including Apple TV, Vimeo and Amazon.

Check out the video above for more of our conversation with Cotton, who played professionally in several countries for 10 years. He is now a youth coach, mentor and motivational speaker in Southern California. In addition to the film, we discuss the price of fame, the NCAA (which hassled him repeatedly), "Hoop Dreams" and his all-time favorite sneaker.

See below for the documentary's official trailer.

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