DeMar DeRozan Spills the Beans on How Soccer Played a Huge Role in Kobe Bryant’s Exceptional Footwork

Kobe Bryant’s arsenal was loaded with a variety of ammunition, and this deep bag made him nearly unstoppable on the court. Among all the other things, Kobe’s footwork is something that is still considered unparalleled. According to DeMar DeRozan, the Mamba mastered his footwork by paying attention to soccer players and how they move on the pitch.

During an appearance on the Club 520 Podcast, DeMar DeRozan revealed how Kobe helped him improve his footwork. Deebo said that Kobe was a huge fan of soccer. Whenever he watched soccer, he tried to learn the footwork of soccer players as their game heavily relied on that skill.

D-Roz said, “He was a big soccer fan, so he used to always incorporate how soccer players move, how they use their footwork to get leverage, quickness, and he always used to tell me to watch certain players like, Hakeem [Olajuwon] obviously, the way he moved, but also like the smaller guards like a fuc***g Andre Miller.”

Picking Kobe’s brains on how to improve his footwork immensely helped the six-time All-Star. But it’s unlike Bryant to have just one point of reference to learn something. Deebo revealed another lesson that he got from the late Mamba.

“He always used to tell me, learn how to play in a phone booth… if you know how to master, how to create shots from a phone booth, you good,” DeRozan recalled.

The idea behind the phone booth analogy was that it compels the player to think outside the box when their movement is restricted due to the limited space. During games, when the same player is being closely guarded by a bigger, tougher opponent, the phone booth trick will provide them a way out.

Kobe’s wisdom wasn’t for everyone to understand. It takes a special athlete to understand his approach and then incorporate it into their game. D-Roz admitted that it always took him a while to figure out the “codes” in which Kobe used to talk. But, once he figured it out, the process after that became smooth sailing for him.