Mamba Mentality Forever
Kobe eclipsed basketball. He was a model of human capacity and what we are all capable of achieving.
Kobe was and always will be known for his ‘mamba mentality’. His ruthless mindset is what most separated him from everyone else.
He had an insatiable drive to become the best at whatever he did, and had the intelligence, work ethic, and focus to make it happen. Each of those three factors, along with others, are what made him so special and celebrated.
Intelligence: He spoke three languages fluently, several others non fluently. Won an Oscar for his storytelling a year or two after his retirement from basketball. There are many other examples of course, but really you can just listen to him speak in any context, press conferences, talk shows, etc., and his intellectual capacity appears front and center.
Work ethic: This is the main one. His unchallenged effort towards perfecting whatever craft he was focused on. Dedicating more time and work than anyone else could. Not just through his legendary work out schedule, but his attention to the details of the game, wanting (and succeeding) to learn everything there is to know, and then some more.
Nobody could get to their spots on the floor better than Kobe, he had the deepest bag of basketball skillet.
Focus/competitiveness: On the court during games, he simply didn’t see losing as an option (many great athletes have this trait, but with Kobe it seemed more obvious and authentic).
The things he was able to make happen on the court were considered heroic by most basketball fans. He declared from an early age that he would become the greatest player of all time, and he just about did it. Very well could have been if his body held up for a few more years.
It’s hard to understand this for some people not in tune with the basketball world, because 90% of his accomplishments are in basketball. From the time he was 2 to the time he was retired at 37 (I think), his focus never strayed from basketball. He was only able to live by progressing in his craft. After he retired, nothing changed. He applied the same traits he’d always had to things other than basketball, which is very rare for retired NBA players.
Most of them settle down on their mountain of money or become a TV analyst or something, which is fine. But Kobe had said he didn’t even miss basketball because he was so locked into the next phase of his life. We all wanted to see what he could achieve with the same mentality he had in his NBA career, which is a big reason why his death sucks so much. He arguably had more left to give than any other retired sports legend.
He developed a deep, reflective self-awareness, a kind and open heart, a disarming sense of humor, and a worldliness rivaled by very few — forget NBA players — humans.
He called himself vino, and started making wine. He even built Granity Studios, which is an award winning multimedia original content company focused on creating new ways to tell stories around sports. Stories that are crafted to entertain, by bringing education and inspiration together, and he wrote children's books and produced films.
He became an inspirational figure to younger players because of the Mamba Academy Multi-sports Complex. He also embodied a commitment to growth and learning that allowed him to flourish: as a family man, an ambassador of goodwill, and a business man.
His profoundly tragic passing at just 41, and his daughter’s Gianna at just 13, via helicopter crash on their way to her game in Thousand Oaks, is a life cut short. You got the sense in the past few years the best version of Kobe was always yet to come. I believe it. I mourn it. And I mourn for his family, who lost a father and daughter in the blink of an eye. It’s unfair. It’s beyond heartbreaking — Kobe committed to becoming better, and he *deserved* better, and so much longer.
His, and his daughter’s, life had truly just begun in the most magnanimous of senses. I won’t just miss who they were, I’ll miss who they would’ve become. We all will.
Don’t cry because they’are gone; smile because they were here.
Heaven needed more ballers anyways .
Mamba Forever .
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