Kobe Bryant had natural talent, but he became a basketball legend because of his work ethic. His work ethic even had a nickname — Mamba Mentality.
Jay Williams, who played for the Chicago Bulls, shared a story about just how hard Kobe worked.
“I always tried to outwork people. That’s just how I made my mark. The game was at 7 (p.m.), I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to come to the Staples Center, because we’re playing this when the Lakers had Kobe and Shaq — this is the championship Lakers. I’m going to get there at 3 and I’m going to make sure I make 400 made shots before I go back into the room, I sit in the sauna, I get ready for the game,” Williams said.
To his surprise, he saw someone already working out — Kobe.
“Who do I see? I see Kobe Bryant, already working out. Once I step my foot across that line, I started working out. I worked out for a good hour, hour and a half. When I came off, after I was done, I sat down and of course I still heard the ball bouncing,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘This guy is still working out? He was working out, it looks like he was in a dead sweat when I got here, and he’s still going. It’s not like his moves are nonchalant or lazy — he’s doing game moves.”
Kobe worked out for another 25 minutes after Williams was done. After the game, Williams asked Kobe about his work ethic.
“‘Hey Kobe, why were you in the gym for so long?’ He’s like, ‘Because I saw you come in and I wanted you to know that it doesn’t matter how hard you work, that I’m willing to work harder than you.’”
Other links ...
How can Kobe Bryant be gone? His legend wasn’t supposed to end this way (Bill Plaschke, LA Times)
Former BYU player Brandon Davies pays tribute to Kobe Bryant
The loss of a myth and a man (Rob Mahoney, The Ringer)
Kobe Bryant was just getting started (Will Leitch, NYMag)
And finally ...
Teams from around the league took 24-second shot clock violations and 8-second backcourt violations to honor Kobe.