“Was Putting My Family to Shame”: How Kobe Bryant Learned From Michael Jordan’s Failure

People view Kobe Bryant as the epitome of professional basketball success. He won five championships throughout his 20-year NBA career, and a plethora of players have adopted his trademarked “Mamba Mentality.” Bryant has certainly made his family proud of his accomplishments. However, there was a point in time when he doubted that, when he believed he brought shame to his family instead. But he learned from Michael Jordan’s failure to become better.

Basketball ran in the blood of the Bryant family. Kobe’s father, Joe, spent seven years in the NBA before playing overseas, and his uncle John, also known as “Chubby,” was a great player himself. The two often played in Philadelphia’s Sonny Hill Future League.

Established in 1968, the Sonny Hill league is the oldest and most recognized professional summer league in the country. It was the go-to spot for players to put their names on the map. Joe and John did so on multiple occasions, becoming legends in the organization. Kobe aspired to follow in their footsteps.

At 12 years old, Kobe played in the league for the first time. In a special essay in The Players’ Tribune, he recalled the emotions of that experience.

“Zero. 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,” Bryant revealed. “I was putting my family to shame!”

He felt like a failure for not living up to the expectations his father and uncle had established. However, he found himself relating to the experiences of an NBA legend. He learned about Michael Jordan’s youthful disappointments, and a new sense of motivation began to brew.

“I learned that [Michael Jordan] 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,” Bryant said. “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.”

Kobe’s motivation was grounded in demonstrating that he was capable of being great. “I became obsessed with proving to my family—and more importantly to myself—that I CAN DO THIS… My killer instinct was born.”

That newfound drive pushed Bryant to a stellar high school career at Lower Merion and to eventually hear his name called at the 1996 NBA Draft. He kept that motivation to become one of the greatest players in NBA history.