The Mamba Mentality: How I Play

by Kobe Bryant

One of the qualities that has made Kobe so successful, and always will, is his attention to detail. He always used to tell us: if you want to be a better player, you have to prepare, prepare, and prepare some more.

Kobe knew that to be the best you need a different approach from everyone else.

When everyone else was thinking it was time for bed, his mind was telling him it’s time to get ahead of the competition.

What I mean by that is: if I wanted to implement something new into my game, I’d see it and try incorporating it immediately. I wasn’t scared of missing, looking bad, or being embarrassed. That’s because I always kept the end result, the long game, in my mind. I always focused on the fact that I had to try something to get it, and once I got it, I’d have another tool in my arsenal.

I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my game, but I also wasn’t willing to sacrifice my family time. So I decided to sacrifice sleep, and that was that.

If you really want to be great at something, you have to truly care about it. If you want to be great in a particular area, you have to obsess over

What I’m saying is greatness isn’t easy to achieve. It requires a lot of time, a lot of sacrifices. It requires a lot of tough choices.

That’s the best advice I can give: listen to your body, and warm up with purpose.

What separates great players from all-time great players is their ability to self-assess, diagnose weaknesses, and turn those flaws into strengths.