“Daddy, What Kind of Teammate was Kobe Bryant?”: Magic Johnson was Deeply Impressed by Black Mamba’s Progress as a Leader During 2008 Finals

In April 2016, Magic Johnson labeled Kobe Bryant as the “Greatest Lakers ever” before Kobe’s farewell game in which he dropped 60 points and continues to do so. Johnson didn’t want Bryant to be remembered only as a great hooper, he wanted him to build a personality that touches his teammates. During the 2008 NBA Finals, Johnson noticed that the Black Mamba was opening toward his teammate more than he had ever seen. The endearing personality welcomed this change in Bryant’s attitude. 

In his joint 2008 autobiography with Larry Bird, When the Game Was Ours, co-authored by Jackie Macmullan, Magic Johnson expressed his elation at witnessing the high-quality scorer turning into a much better leader. He also wanted him to relish the job at the most exciting stage in the season. Johnson expressed, “I wanted Kobe to enjoy it, because the work it takes to get to the Finals is too hard to be joyless.”

The assists maestro expected the two-way phenom to leave a joyful mark on his teammates’ personalities. As per Johnson, if he left an impressionable personality, his teammates would pass on some profound tales to their children. He didn’t want Kobe to be a guy who was always in a shell about his fellow Lakers mates.

“You[Kobe Bryant] don’t want your teammates to be walking down the street someday and have their son or daughter say to them, ‘Daddy, what kind of teammate was Kobe Bryant?’ and have him say, ‘I didn’t know him. He never let me in,’ or worse, ‘He’s not my kind of guy.” 

Then Johnson mentioned the “strides” Bryant made towards becoming a much more delightful presence around his teammates. He found Kobe’s development as a leader during the 2008 Finals on top of being a “tremendous player” commendable. This approach will certainly pay off big time.

Johnson’s observation regarding Mamba’s attitudinal shift came just a year before he would lift his fourth NBA title and first NBA Finals MVP award. Earlier, Kobe had Shaq, who led the Lakers in the Finals in the early 2000s and carried some of the weight for the team. Since his departure, it became tough for Kobe’s teammates to match his aura and intensity on the court. 

However, the change in leadership style and mentality came after some time as Johnson pointed and also paid off.

Improved leadership brought two more titles

Due to the change in his attitude, his teammates started to carry the load in a much more comfortable manner. Despite having Phil Jackson as the Head Coach alongside All-Star Pau Gasol, Bryant needed every bit of help he could get. The need for heavy assistance was indeed at its height during the 2010 Finals. While he had memorable offensive performances during the hard-fought 2009 Finals, where he supplied 32.4 points, 7.4 assists, and 5.6 rebounds on 43%, an ankle injury severely hindered his quest for back-to-back titles at the last stop.

In the 2010 Finals, he tallied 28.6 points and eight rebounds per game on 40.5%. But in Game 7, he had a horrid 6/24 outing for 23 points.  Metta World Peace hit clutch shots en route to 20 points and Pau Gasol was aggressive throughout the game to collect 19 points and 18 rebounds. The squad played tough defense with even Bryant contributing on the end with a ton of defensive rebounds. There is a high chance that these performances were a result of Bryant’s opening up to his teammates much more and trusting them.