Kobe Brayant

Who is better to start off this series of blogs about Basketball other than the one and only Kobe Bryant? The man has written pages left, right, and center of history books. Let’s take a dive into his career, see some of his achievements, and how his mindset made him a legend.

What many might not know about Kobe is that in his early years he lived in Italy. After moving to the U.S he played for his high school basketball team. Around 26 years ago, in 1996 Kobe Bryant joined the NBA. His first team was actually the Hornets and then he got swapped with another player and joined the Lakers. His first NBA coach, coach Hopla, had an experience of the drive that Kobe has for basketball. Kobe had asked coach Hopla to set a workout for him. Coach Hopla said he would only be available at 5:30 am the next day to meet with Kobe. Kobe agreed to the time. The next day Coach Hopla got to the gym where he was supposed to meet Kobe at 5:15 am and saw that Kobe was already sweating. He had apparently already started his workout at 4:45 am. Coach Hopla was very impressed and later on he realized that Kobe is much more than just another NBA basketball player. In his words “Kobe has a sense of urgency with everything he does. Every rep, every shot, every drill is important to him.” 

(The story above was taken from this link)

Just one year in, Kobe won the NBA slam dunk contest of 1997 and had his first all star game debut by 1998. His talent was going to take him places and that was clear by this time.

He kept on shocking the world by winning his NBA championships (alongside another NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal) in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Everyone knew who Kobe was, but not what he was. “There’s a difference between who you are and what you are. What I am when I step on that court is… that killer snake and I’m stone cold”.

Kobe Bryant wasn’t just training with his team, but also training outside on his own time as well. In fact Kobe would be training or playing basketball throughout his day. He would wake at 4am to start his first training course and pretty much train or play until 8pm. 

A fun fact: the number 24, known for being Kobe’s jersey number, wasn’t given to him until 2006. 

By 2008 he had won 5 NBA championship awards. In 2014 he surpassed Michael Jordan becoming third on the list of all time scorers in the NBA. In 2016 he played his final game and retired leaving a legacy that will always be remembered in basketball.

Soon after he left basketball, unfortunately he faced an accident. In 2020 Kobe faced a helicopter crash that caused the death of Kobe, his daughter, and 7 other people. 

Kobe didn’t just play the sport though, he lived it and loved it. His hard work and consistency made him outform everyone else. Though some might argue that he always compared himself to Micheal Jordan (which isn’t true), his main opponent was nobody, but himself. He trained so much to make himself better than what he was the day before. To never stop growing and to grow exponentially not just linearly. 

Till this day he is an inspiration for many players who want to play professional basketball. Till this day people shout Kobe before shooting the ball (even though they don’t always score like him).

Citations:

11, FOX. “One Year Later: Celebrating Kobe Bryant’s Career Highlights.” FOX 11 Los Angeles, FOX 11 Los Angeles, 26 Jan. 2021, https://www.foxla.com/news/one-year-later-a-look-back-on-kobe-bryants-career-highlights.

Stein, Alan. “An inside Look at What Makes Kobe Bryant Great.” USA Basketball, 8 Nov. 2010, https://www.usab.com/youth/news/2010/11/an-inside-look-at-what-makes-kobe-bryant-great.aspx#:~:text=%22Kobe%20has%20a%20sense%20of,is%20always%20looking%20to%20improve.