The Legend of Kobe Bryant | The Players' Tribune

WYNNEWOOD 8TEEN ZER0 THE BLACK HAT MAMBA MENTALITY BEAUTIFUL SCAR LETTER TO MY YOUNGER SELF DEAR BASKETBALL

Guard, poet, author, producer, writer, Academy Award winner, Hall of Famer, NBA legend. There are so many facets to the legacy of Kobe Bryant that it’s impossible to neatly sum up his influence on both basketball and the culture at large. Quite simply, the man did it all — and because of who he was, he did it all in the pursuit of excellence. In that respect, he played a crucial role in the story of The Players’ Tribune. His insight and inspiration as a founder, creator and contributor will forever be a part of who we are and why we exist — to give athletes a platform from which they can share their stories and provide inspiration to others. So many athletes have been touched by Kobe, whose drive to succeed and will to win were unmatched by anyone not named Michael Jordan. Stories of Kobe’s passion to be the best abound in the NBA. “I can’t relate to lazy people,” he once said. “We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.” To honor Kobe’s life and legend, we’ve compiled a collection of our favorite stories by and about the Black Mamba — all from the archives of TPT. Enjoy.

ALLEN IVERSON ICE CUBE BRIAN SHAW ROBERT HORRY HORACE GRANT RON HARPER LISA LESLIE PAUL PIERCE KENYON MARTIN JAMAL CRAWFORD DEVEAN GEORGE CHARLIE VILLANUEVA ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN DWYANE WADE PAU GASOL WALTER IOOSS JR. GERALD HENDERSON BUDDY HIELD JOEL EMBIID THE NBA JORDAN CLARKSON LARRY NANCE JR. The knuckleheads DEREK FISHER SABRINA IONESCU JEWELL LOYD JAYSON TATUM ARIKE OGUNBOWALE DEREK JETER

EIGHT FROM KOBE

TWENTY-FOUR & MORE FOR KOBE

FEATURING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM

Walter gallery

THE LEGEND OF

KOBE

Wynnewood

Fitting in is a challenge that I’ve never been able to master.

When my father decided to retire from basketball, he moved our family back to America, which meant leaving behind eight years of friendships and comfort I had established in Italy. I was a tall, skinny 13-year-old kid who spoke Italian better than English. I knew very little of American culture and people knew me only as “the son of a former NBA player.” During this time, the game of basketball became more than only a refuge, it became my outlet. Basketball became the place where I could channel my frustrations about being different — where I could scream from the top of the mountain and allow myself to be heard.

KOBE BRYANT

1.31.15

The first time I saw Kobe play, he started out on the damn bench. I wasn’t having none of that. I spent the first half yelling at Del Harris…. It was only right that the first time I saw Kobe play was right there at the Great Western Forum. My wife was actually the first to tell me about this 18-year-old kid straight outta high school. Before that season, I didn’t know nothing about Kobe. I remember thinking, And he ain’t seven feet tall? What’s so damn special about this kid? Because it was unusual. He wasn’t a Kevin Garnett type. I was intrigued, but I had to see this kid for myself. But by the second quarter, Kobe was still on the bench. I was steady hollering at Del. “Where’s the kid? Naked Gun!” My wife was trying to quiet me down, but deep down I knew she was on the same page. Maybe Del finally heard me, because Kobe checked in before the end of the half.

ICE CUBE

12.18.17

I still remember how the sequence went down. Kobe got the ball on the wing. Right away, I’m noticing he’s moving different. He was smooth with it. There was just something about his vibe. I’ve always liked watching young players because you can tell a lot about their understanding of the game from their body language. In an instant — I don’t even remember how he got to the hoop — he goes by his defender. He attacked the rim and dunked the ball. The Forum erupted. Me and my wife both screamed, “Damn!” It was something about the way he dunked it. The athleticism. How elastic his body was. Then it hit me. I said to her, “We ain’t never had nothin’ like that.” That one play, that was my intro to Kobe. I had no idea the terror he was gonna unleash.

I vividly remember Kobe sitting around eating french fries and talking basketball as a little kid. Kobe was obsessed with the game even back then. When we would be at the shootaround before the game, Kobe would be trying to warm up with us. I’m not talking like, you know, shagging rebounds, like a ball boy or whatever. I’m talking, this kid was in the layup line like he was on the team. He was out there shooting Js with the players. So one day I must have told him to get out of the way, and he challenged me to a game of H-O-R-S-E. To be honest, I can’t even remember what happened in the game. But the story grew and grew over the years. It started as him beating me in H-O-R-S-E, to him beating me in a game of one-on-one. It took on a life of its own.

BRIAN SHAW

4.12.16

BRIAN SHAW

By the time Kobe got to the league and we were in the NBA Finals that first time in L.A., I had reporters coming up to me asking, with a straight face, “Did Kobe really take it to you in a game of one-on-one back in Italy?” I’m like, “What? He was 11. I was 22. Are you serious?” But that was the power of Kobe. I think he might have beaten me in H-O-R-S-E. I’ll give him that.

When I got traded to the Lakers in ’97, Kobe Bryant was just a rookie. The dude couldn’t shoot threes. We would play this shooting game every day after practice. It was me, Kobe, Brian Shaw, Mitch Richmond and Kurt Rambis. Kobe would lose every time. We would get to practice the next day and sure enough, Kobe would already be there shooting nothing but threes. Like clockwork, at the end of practice he’d say, “Let’s play the game! I’m ready for you.” And we would beat his ass again. He would never stop. It was incredible. He practiced until one day, a couple months later, he finally won. If you literally said, “Kobe, I bet you can’t make five in a row by dropping the ball and kicking it in from half court,” that motherfucker would go out there and practice it until he could do it. And that’s what people don’t understand when they talk about champions — when they talk about a winner’s mentality. Kobe’s dedication to the game is unreal. And I mean that in the truest sense … it was literally unbelievable. The common denominator in every championship team is the mentality that Kobe has … You have to be so obsessed with winning that you pull no punches with your teammates, even when you’re in first place. Even when you’re a defending champ.

ROBERT HORRY

6.13.15

ROBERT HORRY

HORACE GRANT

4.12.16

RON HARPER

4.12.16

Kobe was different. He would come right up to you during the handshake and tell you he didn’t like you and that he was going to destroy you. Seriously, he wouldn’t just say it in the pregame, he would say it in the heat of battle. He didn’t care who you were. He’d say, “I can’t believe they’re putting you on me. Are you serious? You think you can guard me?” And he wasn’t joking. He meant it. And the defender knew he meant it. That’s the difference. He would plant that seed of doubt in their mind. And when you had that seed of doubt against Kobe, it was over.

Kobe’s relentlessness wasn’t just about games. Basketball was a 24/7 obsession for him. When they rolled the ball out at practice, there was no need for him to warm up. He was already warmed up at 7 a.m. He was ready to get it in. He would go at guys so hard in practice that I started to think to myself, Okay, this guy is really trying to be MJ. He’s trying to be the greatest of all-time.

There is never gonna be another Michael Jordan again. But there may never be another Kobe Bryant again, either.

RON HARPER

Hunt or be hunted has always been my mentality. I don’t hide the aggressiveness of competition behind All-Star parties, sponsored events, and the idea that the weekend game is a well deserved break. The fans voted me in to watch me take on the world’s best. That competition is what I love. Whether my counterpart is ready or not, resting or not, or just feels like going through the motions, it has nothing to do with me. When I play, I compete, and if you’re too busy acting cool for the fans or celebrities courtside then I will demolish you in front of them. I want MVP. There’s no shame in feeling that way. Why should there be? I want the world to see me dominate the players that are debated by millions of fans as being on my level. Competing with this spirit is fun to me. As a fan, I can only hope one player decides to take the game on the same way I do and raise its level from the opening tip. Being passive aggressive in this competition means you’re fine with simply going with the flow and unwilling to disturb the calm waters of the game to accomplish your goals. I see that as a weakness. It’s our nature to compete. Throw the ball up and let’s see who the alpha is. Maybe I’m just old school. Maybe my line of thinking is that of a rotary phone. Maybe this smartphone generation enjoys sharing games of domination. Maybe they like taking turns. Maybe they enjoy competing passive aggressively. Maybe I’m the one with the problem, maybe it is right to have multiple alphas, maybe I’m the weaker one, the selfish one. Maybe, just maybe … Either way, I refuse to change what I am. A lion has to eat. Run with me or run from me.

KOBE BRYANT

1.31.15

Kobe and I watched Jordan films. He had the whole series of his championships. His sister and I are closer in age, so we hung out all the time when Kobe was still 18, 19. I would be in his sister’s room. Kobe’s room was across the hall. He’d pause every five minutes, “Lise, come here!” I’d go across the hall, and come in. I’m like, “What’s up, Kobe?” He was like, “Look, watch this.” I think part of it was that no one else in the house aside from his dad could appreciate the true moves of Jordan, right? But it would be a spin move, or, “Watch how he set this up. Watch this. Watch when he look over his shoulder.” Just, the details of what Jordan was doing. Kobe watched for hours. When I say hours — there was one day in particular that Shaya, his sister, we went to the mall. We came back, he was still in there watching. “Lise, come here.” I go in there, he pauses the tape, stands up in his flip flops and does the move he’s been studying. Shay and I shower, we go out, like out out — Kobe didn't really go out much — come back, one in the morning. “Lise, come here.” He’s still in his room watching videos. That’s why if you look at Kobe’s early interviews, the way he licks his lips, the way his mannerisms … it's all a learned behavior from him watching his favorite player, Michael Jordan. If you watch him walk, he would ooze Michael Jordan. The way he answered the question, the way he moves his body. He watched every single ... anything that Michael Jordan did. He just loved it.

LISA LESLIE

That’s the number of points I scored the entire summer while playing in Philadelphia’s Sonny Hill Future League when I was 12 years old. I didn’t score. Not a free throw, not an accidental layup, not even a lucky throw-the-ball-up-oops-it-went-in basket. My father Joe “Jellybean” Bryant and my uncle John “Chubby” Cox were Future League legends in their day. My father as a 6'10 point forward and my uncle as a 6'4 point guard. I was putting my family to shame!

I considered maybe just giving up basketball and just focusing on soccer. Here’s where my respect and admiration for MJ was forged. I learned that he had been cut from his high school team as a freshman; I learned he knew what it felt like to be embarrassed, to feel like a failure. But he used those emotions to fuel him, make him stronger, he didn’t quit. So I decided to take on my challenge the same way he did. I would channel my failure as fuel to keep my competitive fire burning. I became obsessed with proving to my family — and more importantly to myself — that

I CAN DO THIS.

It became an obsession.

I learned everything about the game, the history, the players, the fundamentals. I wasn’t just determined to never have a summer of zero again, I was driven to inflict the same sense of failure on my competition as they unknowingly inflicted on me. My killer instinct to score was born.

Twenty-four years later, I pass my muse.

What a journey this has been. Setting this mark is a huge honor. I’m aware of Father Time’s curfew. He has sent me to my room to brush my teeth before he tucks me in, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t walk to the bathroom slowly. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t act as if someone misplaced the toothpaste. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t brush every tooth twice, brush my tongue three times, floss until my gums bleed and rinse with mouthwash until the inside of my mouth burns and then goes numb. I would not be the kid that bounced back after zero, and I would not be honoring the man that inspired me to challenge everything. Thank you all for your love and support, it is much appreciated, even if the villain in me refuses to acknowledge it all the time.

KOBE BRYANT

12.16.14

From the moment I started rolling my dad’s tube socks And shooting imaginary Game-winning shots In the Great Western Forum I knew one thing was real: I fell in love with you. A love so deep I gave you my all — From my mind & body To my spirit & soul. As a six-year-old boy Deeply in love with you I never saw the end of the tunnel. I only saw myself Running out of one. And so I ran. I ran up and down every court After every loose ball for you. You asked for my hustle I gave you my heart Because it came with so much more. I played through the sweat and hurt Not because challenge called me But because YOU called me. I did everything for YOU Because that’s what you do When someone makes you feel as Alive as you’ve made me feel. You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream And I’ll always love you for it. But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer. This season is all I have left to give. My heart can take the pounding My mind can handle the grind But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye. And that’s OK. I’m ready to let you go. I want you to know now So we both can savor every moment we have left together. The good and the bad. We have given each other All that we have. And we both know, no matter what I do next I’ll always be that kid With the rolled up socks Garbage can in the corner :05 seconds on the clock Ball in my hands. 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

Because that’s what you do When someone makes you feel as Alive as you’ve made me feel. You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream And I’ll always love you for it. But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer. This season is all I have left to give. My heart can take the pounding My mind can handle the grind But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye. And that’s OK. I’m ready to let you go. I want you to know now So we both can savor every moment we have left together. The good and the bad. We have given each other All that we have. And we both know, no matter what I do next I’ll always be that kid With the rolled up socks Garbage can in the corner :05 seconds on the clock Ball in my hands. 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

KOBE BRYANT

11.30.15

Love you always,

Kobe

One of the toughest games I remember playing against Kobe happened in Boston. I think he made seven or eight shots in a row on me. So we come into the huddle during a timeout and Coach is looking at me with a face that I knew meant he wanted me to switch off of Kobe. And the rest of the guys on the team could see what was happening and they were looking at me too. Finally they bring up that maybe we should switch and put a different guy on him, and I yelled, “Hell no! I’m going to guard him! I got this!” He ended up missing the last nine shots of that game with me on him, and we won. But the stat sheet is still vivid in my mind. Kobe took 47 shots. Forty-seven. No one has ever taken 47 shots on me. Most games a team will get up 81 to 89 shots. Kobe has the mentality of a basketball serial killer. He’s going to come at you every single way possible and he’s not going to let up. His mentality — his killer instinct — is what separates him from the other guys on this list, because once Kobe knows he has you, he’s going to keep attacking you. He’ll throw you down, beat you up and even when you’re knocked out, he’ll keep hitting you. Kobe wants to destroy his opponent every night.

PAUL PIERCE

1.16.15

PAUL PIERCE

KENYON MARTIN

4.6.17

KENYON MARTIN

JAMAL CRAWFORD

1.29.16

JAMAL CRAWFORD

People can say whatever they want about Kobe, but Kobe don’t take no shit from nobody. Kobe would fight you in a minute. He would. That’s something I think a lot of fans didn’t know. People think of Kobe for all that skillful basketball stuff, but not for the fact that, if you stepped up to him, he’d fight back. Or if you clubbed him or hit him, he’d make you pay. That’s ’cause Mamba would literally take your head off to win the game, man. He’d fuck you up. There’s a lot of trash talking on the court, but nobody ever said shit to Kobe.

I heard one time in a workout that he practiced a shot for an hour. The same shot. For one hour. And it wasn’t like a three-pointer, it was a little shot in the mid-range area. Do you know how tedious that is? Do you know how locked in you have to be to do one shot for an hour? To trick your mind that way? That’s unbelievable. And basically, Kobe’s done that for every single shot in basketball. He’s thought about every different angle on the court. He’s mastered his arsenal to where he has two counters to everything. Sometimes three. With his footwork, he can get any shot he wants. Some people do it off the dribble, Kobe’s doing it with his feet. He’s doing it at closer range to the basket. He’s doing it with his back towards you. Then he’s fading away with that footwork. He’s stepping around you, or putting you in a position where you’re hopping in the air. It’s kind of like Olajuwon. He had the Dream Shake. Well, Kobe does it as a guard. One of my favorite Kobe moments came back when I was with the Bulls. Had to be ‘02 or ‘03. It was late in the game, and he was out by the three-point line with Eddie Robinson guarding him. He up-faked, took one dribble, then did this pirouette that was just sick before making the jumper. It was unbelievable.

DEVEAN GEORGE

1.23.16

CHARLIE VILLANUEVA

1.23.16

So it started out as a normal day for basketball, except for one obvious exception:

We had Kobe.

By the end, I think that we had all become almost, I don’t know, morbidly curious about it. You could see it on our faces. All of us — guessing, wondering, trying to figure it out. We wanted to know where the number would stop. When it did stop — there wasn’t much left to say.

Eighty-one.

I liked challenging people and making them uncomfortable. That’s what leads to introspection and that’s what leads to improvement. You could say I dared people to be their best selves.

That approach never wavered. What I did adjust, though, was how I varied my approach from player to player. I still challenged everyone and made them uncomfortable, I just did it in a way that was tailored to them. To learn what would work and for who, I started doing homework and watched how they behaved. I learned their histories and listened to what their goals were. I learned what made them feel secure and where their greatest doubts lay. Once I understood them, I could help bring the best out of them by touching the right nerve at the right time.

by kobe bryant

AN EXCERPT FROM "MAMBA MENTALITY"

It is rare for an athlete in this modern era of sports to spend their entire career with one team. I was fortunate that I was present to document every step of Kobe's twenty-year journey from a teenage rookie phenom to a five-time NBA champion, leader, veteran, husband and father. His legacy of hard work, constant curiosity and relentless pursuit of the next level of greatness will live within me forever. He was as obsessed with his craft as I was with mine. Maybe that's why we bonded. He had an edge and a drive that inspired me. Our book together was the greatest accomplishment of my career. I will always be grateful for his trust and his friendship and loyalty.

ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN

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PAU GASOL

5.16.19

pau gasol

Nobody is quite like Kobe. His combination of talent and will to win is like nothing I’ve seen in my career. I’ll tell you a short story: I remember showing up at the Lakers’ training camp in 2012, after a summer playing for Spain at the London Olympics. Kobe and Team USA had beaten us in the gold medal round a few weeks before. In the time after the Olympics and before training camp, I had been resting my body. On the first day of camp, I remember that Kobe challenged me to a game of one-on-one after practice. And because he knew that playing the post was my thing, he demanded that the game be in the post only. I couldn’t turn down the challenge. I was in O.K. shape, but my body was still recovering from the summer. Kobe wouldn’t let me refuse, so we played. He was talking trash. So I tried to hold my ground by talking back a little. Kobe was not messing around — he was ready to beat me. So I tried to match his energy. But no matter what I did, he was not going to take it easy on me. I remember I was like, “Kobe, relax. The season’s just starting, I’m still getting my legs back. Relax.” One day in the future, maybe I’ll tell you who won that game. Actually, screw it, you know who won. I don’t believe that Kobe ever took a break. It was championship mode, pure and simple. The six and a half years I played with Kobe were my best basketball years. I learned the most about my game, and a big reason was number 24.

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DWYANE WADE

One of the coolest moments I had with Kobe was when I got a call from him during the Finals. They were playing Boston. I’m in a restaurant, I see my phone ring, and I see it’s Kobe. I run out the restaurant fast because it’s so loud in the 112. I answer the phone, and he said, ‘Man, listen. They’re doing this to me on pick-and-rolls. You’re the best at this in the game. How do you … you know what I mean?’ And so I’m sitting there, and I’m giving Kobe Bryant some of my tips of what I do. I was walking on the cloud after that. I was like, ‘Man, Kobe just reached out to me for advice. I’m nice.

GERALD HENDERSON

1.22.16

GERALD HENDERSON

JOEL EMBIID

8.31.18

BUDDY HIELD

12.13.16

KOBE BRYANT

2.10.15

THE NBA

4.14.16

jordan clarkson

6.9.15

SABRINA IONESCU

2.24.20

JEWELL LOYD

8.23.20

JAYSON TATUM

8.23.20

ARIKE OGUNBOWALE

8.23.20

JEWELL LOYD

8.23.20

DEREK JETER

1.27.20

derek fisher

Kobe had been my basketball idol more than half of my life. I tried to do everything he did. So seeing him in the flesh was a pretty cool moment for me. So I’m shooting around and there’s still about 45 minutes until tip. Kobe’s on the other end, still shooting, and I’m glancing over at him. Remember, I’m a rookie. I want to see how this guy approaches warm-ups. Maybe I can learn something from him. Steal a move or two. Suddenly, there was a ladder being set up under the basket. Kobe’s pointing up at the rim and the maintenance guys are positioning the ladder. A measuring tape is involved. I’m standing at half court watching the scene play out, and Kobe starts walking over to me. “Something wrong with the rim.” “Oh yeah?” We’re watching a guy climb the ladder and tinker with the rim. “It’s too low. The rim’s a quarter of an inch too low.” “Huh?” I mumble. I’d never really heard about maintenance issues with a rim before a game. “What do you mean?” “I was missing shots that I don’t miss. I’m pretty sure it’s low. A quarter of an inch.” After the buzzer sounded, I was walking off the court and I saw one of the maintenance guys — one of the guys who was carrying the ladder onto the court during warm-ups. I had to ask. “Hey man, what was up with the rim before the game?” “Oh, someone notified us that it was a little lower than regulation.” Then he told me how much it was off by. I could tell you his answer, but I think you already know what he said.

On draft night, I got a text from Kobe. Just like those other Kobe stories, my first reaction was, Wait, is this real? A few people were asking, Could the Lakers take me at No. 2? So when Kobe texted, my first thought was, Does he have some … inside info? I still have the text saved on my phone. First he said, What’s up? and then said congratulations. But the last thing he wrote to me is what I still think about. “It doesn’t matter where you go,” he wrote.“It matters more what you do when you get there. Just go there and work.” No inside info. No tips. No recruiting me to the Lakers or anything like that. Soon after, the Pelicans picked me at No. 6.

8.23.20

buddy hield

joel embiid

That was my exposure to American culture — Bow Wow, Kanye and Kobe. Sometimes I’d go to this court by my house where guys would play pickup, and every time I’d shoot the ball, I’d literally yell out, “KOBE!” Imagine it. I’m out there shooting bricks, yelling out Kobe, on a busted hoop in Cameroon. Seven years later, I was playing Kobe. It’s a movie. It’s really a movie…. The most surreal moment was when Kobe was retiring, and he played his last game in Philly. After the game, they set up a little room for us to talk for a minute. He walked in, and I shook his hand and I told him, “Man, I know you probably hear this a lot, but I literally started playing basketball because of you seven years ago. Whenever I’d be shooting the ball at the park, I’d be yelling out,

“KOBEEEEEE!”

He laughed and we talked for a minute, and then before he left he said the most Kobe thing. To most people, it wouldn’t mean anything. But to me, it was surreal. It was like I was in a video game or something. He said, in the most Kobe way, “O.K., young fella. Keep working. Keep working.” Thank you, Kobe. Thank you, Hakeem. Thank you, Mom and Dad. Thank you, Kansas. Thank you, Philly. Thank you, Lil’ Bow Wow. Thank you, Random White People. It’s a movie, I swear.

Basketball is the seed of my muse. At the age of six, the game became part of my nature. Everything I saw, heard, read, or felt was viewed through the lens of growing as a basketball player. This perspective makes me curious about everything, makes everything interesting, and means that life is a living library where all I need to do is pay attention. This meant that geometry class was viewed as understanding the angles of the game. History class taught me different forms of leadership. Through Shakespeare, I learned about the nature of mankind. From The Iliad, I began to question at the age of 12 if I identified with the hero Hector or Achilles. Taking tests helped me steady my pulse and think clearly under duress. The examples are endless but my philosophy is simple. Once I knew my seed, I was able to discover my muse and my purpose for being was crystal clear. The odd thing is that I wound up learning more about the world around me by having a singular focus inside of me.

For the games that you refused to lose, and those that you always seemed destined to win. Thank you for your endless drive. For competing with ruthless ambition and playing with reverence and respect. For showing us that there’s no such thing as magic but only hard work. Thank you for making us smile, laugh, yell, cry, jump out of our seats, and chew on our jerseys. Thank you for playing the game the way it was meant to be played. Thank you for teaching us to believe in ourselves even if nobody else does.

Thank you for your passion, commitment, and dedication to basketball. Thank you for showing us that 24 is not just the number on your jersey, but the number of hours in a day you must devote to basketball to be the best. Thank you for giving and giving and giving. Thank you for pushing through even when your body was screaming “no,” but your mind and your heart kept saying “yes.”

For 20 years you gave our game all you had, and we are eternally grateful. Thank you for loving basketball.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

The NBA

Dear Kobe,

“Hey, don’t hurt yourself, young fella,” Kobe uttered to me. It was one of my “Welcome to the NBA” moments. I experienced a few of those moments during my rookie year. I had the unenviable task of guarding Kobe throughout training camp. There aren’t too many guys who get an opportunity to sit down, talk to Kobe and actually pick his brain, but I was afforded this privilege. It was an incredible learning experience for me, to say the least. For all the stories you hear about Kobe talking trash and demanding a lot from his teammates, on many occasions he’s picked us up, too. He leads by example; however, you don’t hear about that much in the media.

jordan clarkson

10.22.18

If Kobe believes it, shoot, it must be possible.

LARRY NANCE JR.

8.23.20

Dear 17-year-old self,

I said INVEST. I did not say GIVE.

When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family and friends. This sounds simple, and you may think it’s a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it further.

Let me explain. Purely giving material things to your siblings and friends may appear to be the right decision. You love them, and they were always there for you growing up, so it’s only right that they should share in your success and all that comes with it. So you buy them a car, a big house, pay all of their bills. You want them to live a beautiful, comfortable life, right? But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back.

You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, it made YOU happy to see them smiling and without a care in the world — and that was extremely selfish of you. While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but subtracting the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth. Understand that you are about to be the leader of the family, and this involves making tough choices, even if your siblings and friends do not understand them at the time. Invest in their future, don’t just give. Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in their own right. Hold them to the same level of hard work and dedication that it took for you to get to where you are now, and where you will eventually go.

I’m writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately, and so that you don’t have to deal with the hurt and struggle of weaning them off of the addiction that you facilitated. That addiction only leads to anger, resentment and jealousy from everybody involved, including yourself. As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be much better as a result. There’s plenty more I could write to you, but at 17, I know you don’t have the attention span to sit through 2,000 words. The next time I write to you, I may touch on the challenges of mixing blood with business. The most important advice I can give to you is to make sure your parents remain PARENTS and not managers. Before you sign that first contract, figure out the right budget for your parents — one that will allow them to live beautifully while also growing your business and setting people up for long-term success. That way, your children’s kids and their kids will be able to invest in their own futures when the time comes. Your life is about to change, and things are about to come at you very fast. But just let this sink in a bit when you lay down at night after another nine-hour training day. Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache, some of which remains to this day.

You know those little connections that you need when somebody’s not there anymore? I mean, I think about them all the time. I still haven’t been able to change my screensaver in a while. And every time it’s 8:24 any day, I take a screenshot. At some point I wanted to do a collage of all of the days I took a screenshot at 8:24.

6.21.16

Much love,

Kobe

How could someone as full of life as Gianna be taken away from the world before she even got to LIVE her life? How could nine people be snatched away from their loved ones. He didn’t care about your age, or your gender, or your background….. or any of that. Even your talent, at the end of the day, wasn’t what Kobe was there to judge. All that he cared about really was your love of the game. That was the test you had to pass with Kobe: Could you match him passion for passion when it came to hoops. If you could do that, then you had his respect.

I can still hear his voice when I think about the workout I had with him. He was my hero, my idol, the reason I started playing basketball. I know he’s watching us trying to carry on that legacy, and I know I’m not alone. He's watching every time you take the floor.

The first thing that he ever said to me — besides hi — was, “I want to see you be great. And anything I can ever do that up that, let me know.” And that was how he was. He was another father for me. He was a big brother to me. He wrote on my shoes “Create Forever and Be Epic,” and that’s something that we always talked about. So, it was way more than just basketball. It was trying to be a better person, to be a leader and try to give something back to the next generation.

My numbers kind of aligned. I was number 8 in soccer, and that had nothing to do with Kobe, and I’ve been number 24 since third, fourth grade. That was really, really young — even before I was a big, big fan. I like to say it was destiny. Fast-forward and I was able to meet my idol on Ellen. But after that, I didn't even look at Kobe as a celebrity. That's the kind of person he was — he was just so relatable and easy to talk to.

Seeing them together, seeing Gigi grow ... I met her when she was in fourth grade maybe, maybe a little bit younger. And seeing her as she grew up as pretty much a miniature Kobe was interesting to see. And he always used to tell me he doesn’t want her to be like him at all. He’s like, “I don't want her to be like me. She’s so dedicated and so focused already. I want her to enjoy being a kid.” But some things are just hereditary, and she had that same drive that he had and they were basically the same person. It was amazing to see their interactions and their competitiveness with each other. They were best friends.

All I ever needed to know about Kobe Bryant was this: that throughout our friendship, the most meaningful conversations we had — they were always about family.

REST IN PEACE

KOBE BRYANT GIANNA BRYANT CHRISTINA MAUSER John Altobelli Keri Altobelli Alyssa Altobelli Sarah Chester Payton CHESTER ARA ZOBAYAN

I’ve shot a lot of athletes in my career, but a Kobe only comes along once.

Walter Iooss Jr.

11.30.15

Kobe.

Just the name alone makes me think of greatness, because that’s what Kobe is: an all-time great.

DWYANE WADE

8.23.20

DWYANE WADE

We were in a battle with him, and we were trying to be the best player in the world, just like he was. I grew up with Jordan, Jordan is my favorite player of all time. But when I got in the game, Kobe Bryant was that bar for all of us and make no mistake about it we were trying to make him proud. He was the one. We never probably spoke it, said it to the media, or said it to him, but deep down inside, that’s what we were trying to do. And I think he knew, because the way that we competed versus each other. That's what made Kobe alive, when he felt the respect from a competitive standpoint, more so than the words. And we all know we got a little history. When you break somebody's nose in an All-Star Game, it's competitive. But then getting to play on the same team in '08 in the Olympics was like the ultimate for me and I think for him as well. When he finally saw the way I worked and we just got a chance to experience being around each other, our chemistry and continuity on the court was just second to none, like we've played together our whole life. So he knew.

PhotoS by

DWYANE WADE

8.23.20

DWYANE WADE

Photo BY Marc Serota/ Getty Images

But then getting to play on the same team in '08 in the Olympics was like the ultimate for me and I think for him as well. When he finally saw the way I worked and we just got a chance to experience being around each other, our chemistry and continuity on the court was just second to none, like we've played together our whole life. So he knew.

PHOTO BY Lynne Sladky/AP Images

When you break somebody's nose in an All-Star Game, it's competitive.

“JC, you got Kobe!” someone yelled. It wasn’t even preseason yet, but Kobe was going full speed. Somehow he made it look as if he was just gliding around. I don’t think he had played all summer due to his injury, but he still killed everyone. The first possession, he caught the rock along the baseline and hit a turn-around jumper in my face … a shot I’ve seen him hit literally a thousand times on TV. “Hey, don’t hurt yourself, young fella,” Kobe uttered to me. It was one of my “Welcome to the NBA” moments. I experienced a few of those moments during my rookie year. I had the unenviable task of guarding Kobe throughout training camp. There aren’t too many guys who get an opportunity to sit down, talk to Kobe and actually pick his brain, but I was afforded this privilege. It was an incredible learning experience for me, to say the least. For all the stories you hear about Kobe talking trash and demanding a lot from his teammates, on many occasions he’s picked us up, too. He leads by example; however, you don’t hear about that much in the media.

Mamba Out

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ALLEN IVERSON

8.24.20

You’re not here on this earth anymore, but you’re not gone. You just say the name Kobe Bryant, and the memories come back in a split second. I can see you pointing your finger up in the air, walking off the court after you dropped 81 on Toronto. I can see you jumping up in the air just like MJ after you won the title. I can see you standing there next to me at the free throw line, smiling, not even saying anything — just looking at me like, It’s on, Chuck. Those memories aren’t going anywhere.