Brandon Jennings made some interesting revelations during his appearance on Dwight Howard’s podcast. One of them was to declare that he considers himself the best guard out of Oak Hill. However, it wasn’t his hubris that made him rank himself above other guards like Rajon Rondo and Ty Lawson, it was his work ethic – which he inherited from Kobe Bryant.
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Growing up in Compton, Jennings was 11 years old when Kobe won his first NBA championship. Seeing the Black Mamba elevate his game year after year into superstar status taught the youngster to prioritize his craft as well.
Therefore, the answer was easy when Howard asked him how the Mamba’s influence has impacted his life.
“He [Bryant] was the reason why I made my mom wake up every morning, take me to the LA Fitness to work out at 5’o clock. Because I heard he was doing it,” Jennings revealed on ‘Above the Rim with DH12′. It clearly paid off, as the Oak Hill graduate would make NBA history in his very first season.
BJ is one of the only two rookies since the 1970s to score 50 or more points during their rookie season. The other? Allen Iverson. Jennings was also the first player to skip college to play in Europe and still get drafted into the NBA.
Selected 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2009, he would break the team’s record for most points by a rookie in a game in just his seventh NBA game.
The Bucks’ record was previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jennings’ 55 points would be the highest-scoring mark of that season. But it seems a lot of the credit is owed to Jennings’ mother and his idol, Kobe Bryant.
It’s part of the reason why the Black Mamba’s legacy far exceeds his time on the hardwood. He inspired a generation of players to take the game more seriously.
But in the case of Derrick Rose, it also caused some disillusionment.
Vacationing with Kobe Bryant made Derrick Rose feel tricked
If you’re familiar with NBA lore then you remember the iconic moment from 2012 when the East All-Stars came out dancing on the stage at Amway Center. LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, all were seen throwing down moves. Well, all of them except Derrick Rose.
The 2011 MVP’s stoic demeanor is a well-remembered part of his game. But not many fans are aware that that too is an homage to Kobe Bryant. “I had to follow what, like, what Kobe was doing. Thinking of Kob as not enjoying himself, not going on vacays, not doing any of that,” Rose shared on Club 520.
Of course, there is some truth to the adage about never meeting your idols. Rose would soon get disillusioned when he realized Bryant wasn’t always holding himself to the standard that Rose had.
“Like my fourth year, I end up going to the Philippines with him [Bryant] and I saw him, like, relax. I’m like ‘Oh you motherf***er was tricking me this whole time.’ I dedicated three years! Three years of thinking you didn’t do sh*t bruh. And to see you out here just chilling. Yeah it kind of f***ed me up,” Rose revealed.
To be fair, Kobe Bryant had worked relentlessly for over a decade and established himself as one of the greatest players in NBA history at that point. He was allowed to take his foot off the gas once in a while, especially since he had won 5 championships.
