On Sunday, January 26th, the entire world felt the loss of five-time NBA champion, 41 year old Kobe Bryant after he was tragically killed in a helicopter crash. Drafted into the NBA straight out of high school in 1996, Bryant spent all twenty years of his professional career playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Athletic Prowess
Celebrated for his dedication to the Lakers team, unparalleled athletic prowess, and exceptional work ethic, Bryant has countless accolades. He was selected for the NBA All-Star Game eighteen times in a row, racking up 4 All-Star Game MVP awards. In 2014, he moved into third place on the all-time NBA scoring list with 33,643 points, passing Michael Jordan. He remained third on the list until LeBron James passed him on January 25th of this year. He’s remembered for his 81-point game in 2006 against the Raptors, a record that placed him second on the NBA’s scoring list for single game performances only behind Wilt Chamberlain. In his final game in 2016 against the Jazz, his scoring precision did not disappoint—Bryant scored 60 points in his final game, leading the Lakers to victory. Outside of the NBA, he also won two Olympic gold medals for men’s basketball.
Unrivaled Work Ethic
For a glimpse of his unrivaled work ethic, it’s worth turning to Tom Bilyeu’s interview with former NBA player, Jay Williams. In this 2018 interview, Williams spoke highly of Bryant’s relentless determination to succeed, pointing to a game where they were competitors. Williams, who thought of himself as someone who outworked others, began practicing on the court four hours before the game began. But when he arrived, Bryant was already there doing a high-intensity workout. After an hour-and-a-half, Williams wrapped up his workout—but Bryant was still there, still practicing with as much intensity as when Williams first arrived. Williams said he had to know why Bryant worked that hard—so after the game, he asked. Bryant said, “Cause I saw you come in. And I wanted you to know, that it doesn’t matter how hard you work, I’m willing to work harder than you.”
Champion of Female Athletes
Bryant actively fought for and championed female athletes, especially in his retirement. He coached his daughter Gianna, who also died in the helicopter crash, saying that once he saw her passion for the game, they had the WNBA playing on their TV every night. Besides mentoring and coaching young athletes, he regularly attended WNBA games as well as women’s games at the collegiate level. Becky Hammon, assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs and former WNBA player expressed heartfelt gratification towards Bryant in his passing, stating that he used his platform to give female athletes a voice—“the women’s game lost a real advocate and someone who truly believed that women can do anything.”
Achiever On and Off the Court
Achievements for Bryant weren’t limited to the court. He was trilingual, with fluency in English, Spanish, and Italian. His entrepreneurial skills were outstanding, leading him to a $40 million Nike shoe deal in 2003, and his 2013 establishment of Kobe Inc., an empire through which he bought more than 10% of Body Armor, a sports drink company, for only $5 million. Storytelling was another one of Bryant’s biggest strengths. In 2016, he founded a media company, Granity Studios, to connect this passion for storytelling and his love for sports. It’s through this company that he was able to publish young adult novels, as well as his autobiography The Mamba Mentality: How I Play. This was also the company through which Bryant produced his Oscar-winning short film, “Dear Basketball”. Bryant won the Oscar for “Best Animated Short Film” at the 2018 Oscars, with narration born out of his Player’s Tribune piece, also titled “Dear Basketball.” The piece was written as an ode and farewell to Basketball at the beginning of Bryant’s 2016 retirement season.
Whether you followed Bryant religiously during his time on the Lakers, collected his Nike shoes, or found yourself saying “Kobe” whenever throwing paper into the trash, it’s up to all of us to keep Kobe Bryant’s legacy alive. His tireless work ethic, determination to be the best, and hunger for success are all lessons we can carry into the future.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/26/investing/kobe-bryant-business-legacy/index.html
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-01-29/kobe-bryant-nike-sneakers