There are ones who are born with great abilities and then there are others who move beyond greatness with their work ethic. Kobe Bryant was in the second category of players. Along with the physical side of the game, Kobe mastered the mental and emotional side of basketball as well. He was relentless when it came to sharpening his craft. His ‘Mamba Mentality’ was always focused on being the best version of himself, understanding the different aspects and the little details of the game. Even when he was just eight years old, Bryant proved that he possessed the quality of a Champion, scoring 63 points using a simple hack.
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On 23rd January 2006, Kobe permanently put his name in the history books. Playing against the Toronto Raptors, Bryant scored 81 points in a single game. Kobe’s exploits that night gave the Lakers a 122-104 victory over the Raptors and Bryant officially become the holder of the second-biggest score in a single game in league history, after Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points. The most memorable part of the game was that Kobe’s grandmother was in the building. It was her first time watching her grandson play.
At age 8, Kobe Bryant put his detective skills to test dropping 63
Perhaps every basketball fan has seen Kobe breaking down Jayson Tatum’s game in the 2018 playoffs on “Detail”. Many might have seen Bryant detecting a pump fake even before the player tried. These are instances that show the capacity of the sharp brain that Kobe played with. He was curious like a child and learned the game like a student throughout his career.
In a sit-down interview with HBO, the five-time NBA champion once opened up about his basketball skills in childhood. He said that when he was eight, he scored 63 points. Kobe didn’t score just with his skillset, but also with his detective mindset.
Speaking about the 63-point game, the Mamba said that he could dribble with his left hand, which the other eight-year-olds couldn’t do. “It was something very simple that I figured out at 8 years old is that other 8-year-olds can’t dribble with their left hand…So, when I was guarding the ball…I’ll always just let them have a couple of dribbles with the right hand and jump on their right hand and make them change over to their left. And they would bobble the ball, fumble the ball-I would pick it up, go lay it up,” said Bryant.
In 2015, Kobe played the entire fourth quarter with his left hand, because of a right shoulder injury. Perhaps, he had been sharpening his skills since his childhood.
He wanted to know everything, he wanted to be excellent in whatever field he went in. After winning five championships, the Black Mamba even won an Oscar for the animated short film, Dear Basketball.
Jerry West reveals the reason why he stuck for Kobe
Jerry West and Bryant shared an impeccable bond with each other. West was perhaps the sole reason why Bryant became a Laker in the first place in 1996. When nobody believed that a high-schooler would be able to play in the league, the former general manager for the Lakers stood right by Kobe’s side.
Speaking to Paul George on Podcast P with Paul George, West said that watching Kobe work out in high school with other players was ridiculous. According to him, the Mamba’s versatility and ferocity made him a man among kids. Jerry West said this about Mamba;
“To watch him workout, it was like ridiculous okay! I mean it was like a man playing against kindergarten people. That’s how advanced he was.”
West also added that, even in high school, Kobe was adept on both sides of the floor. Kobe wanted to do and he did everything humanly possible to be the best version of himself.
