The Mamba Mentality: How I Play

by Kobe Bryant

Barrence Baytos.

They were obsessive about their own crafts, which made it easy for me to trust them.

Like-minded individuals

Once I trusted them, I listened to my body, and it told me they were doing good work. I felt better, stronger, and more prepared when I worked with them.

Establishing trust.

One of the most important aspects of the game is listening to your body, and preparing it accordingly. I always kept that in mind.

NBA 2K

What I did do, though, was take up tap dancing.

That was my worst sprain, but it certainly wasn’t my first. I realized at that point I needed to be proactive about strengthening my ankles.

After researching the matter, it became apparent that tap dancing was going to be the best way to build up my ankle strength while simultaneously improving my foot speed and rhythm.

This was just a different mind altogether...

JERRY WEST

“Wow, I’m sitting next to the Jerry West.”

I would honestly feel the same way.

I asked him a ton of questions about moments and games in his career. Honestly, I don’t know whether he was intrigued or annoyed, but he answered them all.

I learned shortly thereafter that Jerry is one of those guys who shoots it straight with people he respects. If he really cares about you, he’s going to tell you things that you don’t want to hear. And he always shot it straight with me.

This always bothered the living [expletive] out of me. I want to be helped, but I always wanted the gentle way of advising as opposed to anything else. In recent times, I’ve learned to respond with a chip on my shoulder...but perhaps more humility is a necessity for growth.

It’s been a beautiful relationship.

Perspective is key.

I revere the players who made the game what it is, and cherish the chances I had to pick their brains.

I talked with them to learn how to deal with those challenges. After all, why reinvent the wheel when you can just talk to the wheels that were created before?

Magic would throw passes before people would even realize that they were open.

He could do that because he could read defenses and see plays as they were unfolding. He left teammates in perfect positions to score—and defenses dumbfounded.

KAREEM ABDUL...

He and my dad were friendly, and one time, when my dad, who was playing for the San Diego Clippers, finished a game, he passed me over to Kareem. And, for whatever reason, Kareem says he remembers holding me high up over his head and playing with me.

MUHAMMAD ALI

I learned a lot from studying and watching Muhammad. One of the main takeaways was that you have to work hard in the dark to shine in the light. Meaning: It takes a lot of work to be successful, and people will celebrate that success, will celebrate that flash and hype. Behind that hype, though, is dedication, focus, and seriousness—all of which outsiders will never see. If you stop being dedicated to the craft, the commercials and contracts will all fade away.

One of his strategies that I emulated was the rope-a-dope.

OK, how would you do that in hoops?

the idea that you can manipulate an opponent’s strength and use it against them.

Honestly, I need to learn that as well in everything I do.

BILL RUSSELL

One of the candidates for the greatest basketball player of all time. A man who is a living legend and a permanent candidate for the top spot in all the sport’s history.

Years ago, then, I picked up an autobiography of his and devoured it.

Kobe LOVED to read.

He recounts how people always said he wasn’t a good ball handler, just didn’t know how to handle and shoot the ball. He said sure, he could do all of those things, but why would he lead the fastbreak when Bob Cousy was playing with him? Why would he shoot jumpers when Sam Jones was on his wing? The message was that if you want to win championships, you have to let people focus on what they do best while you focus on what you do best. For him, that was rebounding, running the floor, and blocking shots.

This is one of the best quotes I’ve read in the book so far. This probably explains why Michael Jordan focused on scoring despite the fact that he had proven in the past to be an all-around great player in many areas of the game. Team sports involve everyone getting a piece of the action.

I thought that teaching was simple, yet profound.

Pretty much as soon as I read that, I reached out to Bill and started a relationship and mentors...

BYRON...

During my rookie season, Byron and I would talk. A lot. He would share veteran stories with me, tell me about Magic, Kareem, and series they played together. He shared a lot of historical knowledge with me. He also gave me the low-down on how to cover certain shooting guards.

Specifically, he worked with me on how to chase players around screens and other tactical elements of NBA defense.

Outside of that, Byron schooled me on time management—how to make the most...

A GOOD COACH IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE.

Coaches are teachers.

Some coaches—lesser coaches—try telling you things. Good coaches, however, teach you how to think and arm you with the fundamental tools necessary to execute properly.

Simply put, good coaches make sure you know how to use both hands, how to make proper reads, how to understand the game. Good coaches tell you where the fish are, great coaches teach yo...

PHIL JACKSON WAS MORE THAN JUST A COACH-HE WAS A VISIONARY.

Tex Winter

You always have to have that balance and counterbalance, and Phil and I were perfectly suited for each other in that way.

He also had certain coaching traits: a bad back, like Phil used to have, and hippie lineage. I used to tell him that all the time. He didn’t find it as funny as I did.

I would have been mad, bro...

He understood how to look at it in sequences, versus looking at one play at a time, and he was able to communicate very clearly.

When I looked at the amalgamation of those things, I could see he was going to be a really good coach.

I ponder the ethics of this relationship dynamic. Should NBA players have relationships with referees? Mutual respect and good rapport it’s fine to an extent as long as it’s all in passing and part of the professional atmosphere. However I don’t want biases to be created from it. Become buddies with referees after you retire, when it doesn’t hurt the integrity of the game. However, maybe limit the interactions so you don’t accidentally influence the outcome of your games. Just a thought of course.

I mean, this is OK. It’s not like the Lakers were helping Kobe win anyway.

REFS HAVE A DIFFICULT JOB. They’re not just responsible for observing and moderating the action in front of them at a fast pace. They’re also responsible for bearing the brunt of the emotions of a game that tend to boil over. On top of that, they’re not robots, so they also have to be aware of their own emotions and try to remain objective.

I always tried to keep that in mind and treat them like the real underappreciated and emotional humans that they are. I think that always worked to my benefit.

“So. Um. ...This is how you cheat in the NBA.”

“Alright, cool, now get me back out there.” Gary looked at me like I was crazy. I asked him, “Is it going to get better?” He said no. I said, “Exactly, there’s nothing we can do about it now and it can’t get worse, so tape it up and let’s go.”

But mentally, I knew I had protection absorbing some of the pain and I could play through the rest. We did that, literally, every time out on the court. Shootaround, practice, game. I mean, every time out.

I realized right away that it was torn.

It’s insane that he knew and brushed it off.