By Mark Lamport-Stokes LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - While Kobe Bryant will be sorely missed by Los Angeles Lakers fans after he ended his stellar 20-year career in the NBA, his departure will leave a gaping hole for his legions of supporters in China. According to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), 300 million people play the sport in China and for a majority of them, five-time NBA champion Bryant has become something of a cult figure. For Zhang Weiping, a former basketball player and coach in China who now works as a television analyst, Bryant's extraordinary popularity in his homeland comes as no surprise.
