Kobe Bryant, That's Mamba, and a Few Thoughts on Greatness

It’s officially 2024. The Kobe Year.

It's been 4 years since the world lost Kobe, GiGi, and the other passengers of the helicopter accident. Although the thought of Kobe being gone is still hard to grapple with, he left the world with a great amount of inspiration, and a mantra that transcends generations:

Mamba Mentality.

In the aftermath of his transition, we were given stories from NBA greats who attested to the greatness of Kobe Bryant: his skill, competitive nature, and work ethic.

Each story was deeper than a myth. They were truth personified — and that makes Kobe’s career the thing of legends.

That said, you might’ve saw that Nike unveiled a new campaign, That’s Mamba, which came with merch, sneakers, and some really dope OOH.

It was truly an amazing way to start off the year.

Bean is my favorite basketball players of all time, and these are few things I encourage us all to remember as we get deeper into 2024.

You Fall To the Level of Your Training

In 2012, Kobe Bryant played against the New York Knicks, and the rookie shooting guard Iman Shumpert dominated the first 3 quarters.

Iman was celebrating an early victory, fantasizing about telling his brother about how great of a game he had against The Black Mamba.

Without even looking in his direction, Kobe patted Iman on the leg and said… “You HAD a great game, young fella”.

Kobe was so confident in his abilities that with only a few minutes left in the game he gave his opponent a conciliatory message — “you did the best you could, but it’s not enough”.

What followed was a masterclass in greatness.

Shumpert went on to say that Kobe played like a man possessed. It was almost as if he didn’t see the competition anymore…

In Iman’s words, Kobe essentially treated the Knicks players like cones. Yes, cones in practice.

What does that even mean Kobe Bryant?

How many more records can I break?

There’s a famous quote that says under pressure we don’t rise to the occasion, we fall to the level of our training.

I think this is true.

Kobe was so skilled that when the pressure to win truly set in he reverted back to his training.

He spent so many hours in the gym practicing in-game moves, mechanics, and fundamentals that when it was time to perform, he simply did what he always does best: He performed.

For us that means that our training has to be elite. Revisit the basics, reground yourself in the fundamentals etc.

That way, when the pressure to win is at its highest, we remember that the greatest competition is ourself — everyone & everything in your way is just a cone.

You Gotta Go Left

Kobe was never one to let an injury stop him.

Broken hand? No problem.

Torn rotator cuff? I’ll be back soon.

Torn Achilles? Damn. At least let me shoot my free throws.

Mamba mentality.

In the That’s Mamba campaign the OOH and the TVC reference an iconic photo of Kobe Bryant shooting with his left in practice.

The season had just begun and Kobe broke his wrist. During his recovery he went to the gym (in his pajamas, no less) and put up 1,000s of shots with his left hand.

It’s a great reminder of something that a lot of players get critiqued on at one point or another, and that’s…

Their ability to go left.

If you don’t have great handles and you can’t go left, then you have no recourse when the person guarding you stops you from dribbling/shooting with your right.

The reality was that Kobe had broken his dominant hand.

If he hadn’t focused on using his left, he’d be that much more rusty coming back into the game, and easier to stop because other teams would know he’s still nursing his right hand injury.

The cliche life lesson part of that story is this:

Life is always guarding you. Sh*t, it might even be double teaming you.

It’s only the second week so maybe you haven’t taken the ball up the court yet, but something or someone is gonna try stand in your way.

When they do, maybe you’ll find out that the way you’re used to doing things isn’t working anymore. Metaphorically you might’ve broken your dominant hand.

That’s okay. Shit happens.

BUT… You gotta learn how to shoot with your left.

You Gotta Be Clutch

The year was 2008.

It had been decades since Michael Jordan and the Dream Team had won at the Olympics, and America had lost its reputation for being competitive in basketball on the world stage.

That is, until Kobe Bryant and the Redeem team got together to help bring the U.S. back to glory.

It was a moment in time.

The legendary Coach K from Duke was on board. A young Lebron James was there.

During the championship game against Spain, it was clear that Kobe would be the one to set the tone (per LeBron’s words).

Now, let’s revisit the That’s Mamba campaign for a sec…

The murals popping up in Venice (and on the cover of the essay) show Kobe shushing the audience.

The game was tight, and after making a 4-point play, Kobe instantly reminded the crowd exactly who they were dealing with.

It was a powerful moment that encapsulated everything about Mamba mentality: practice, perseverance, work ethic, and the clutch Gene.

Being clutch isn’t so much about hitting the shot (although it what defines you as clutch). It’s more about having the courage to shoot.

Shooters shoot my dawg. You can’t be clutch if you don’t let the ball fly.

At The End of The Day…

It’s a new year and we all know the formula for success — it’s nothing new.

Let’s make sure our work ethic is high (damn near insane if you’re tryna be Kobe level) and make sure we get the requisite rest because that’s part of being a high performer too.

You can’t determine what tomorrow holds, but if you’re in the gym I can virtually guarantee that you’ll be ready for whatever happens.

Mamba Mentality all year.

One.