Basketball is an intense game, both physically and mentally. The greatest ever have always known how to balance the two, which, by no means, was an easy task. Steve Nash and LeBron James spoke about this very topic on the Mind the Game program, where they brought up how Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan just had a “don’t give a s***” attitude, which made them icons.
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Whenever the Black Mamba and His Airness are mentioned, it must be taken with a grain of greatness. Between the two, they hold 11 NBA championships, 6 MVPs, and countless game-changing moments that eclipse the legacy of some franchises. How did they achieve so much? By being well-balanced, yes — but Jordan and Bryant were also the game’s most ball-dominant scorers. It was their aggressiveness in putting points on the board that immortalized them.
James and Nash, on the other hand, cared more about playing the ‘right way’ and distributing the ball. Naturally, this created a different mindset, which made them care more about how they were perceived.
Nash explained that he and James have similar views. “I don’t want to let people down,” stated Nash, and James agreed.
“I don’t think Kobe gave a sh**. I don’t think Michael gave a sh**,” Nash added. This wasn’t meant as a dig at either legend—more of an observation about why they found the success they did.
James was right there with Nash. “The best teacher in life is experience,” continued The King. “It takes time. Everybody is a different individual. Our wiring is all different.”
The 40-year-old future Hall of Famer then shared some advice for the next generation of ballers, telling them that, in time, they will figure out exactly what type of player and person they will become. “It took time for me to get to that point,” he recalled. “You will know when that moment is for you that it just clicks.”
It was humbling to hear James, whose name is rightfully etched alongside Jordan and Bryant as one of the GOATs, speak this way. Does this humility make him better or worse? Each individual would have a different answer. What’s important is that, no matter how people perceive James, he doesn’t let it bother him.
Phil Handy’s great tidbit about Bryant’s psychology
Despite all of his success, Bryant did have a reputation for rubbing certain players the wrong way. Former Lakers development coach Phil Handy once revealed some of Bryant’s rants during an old interview.
“I asked him one time, ‘Why you such an a**hole?'” He said, ‘You really wanna know? Some of my teammates don’t understand the work.” In that conversation, Kobe told Handy that he didn’t like it when his teammates showed up to practice ten minutes before it began and left immediately after it was over.
“‘These dudes don’t want to work on their game. So I don’t trust them, so I’m not gonna pass them the basketball,” added Handy, who quoted Bryant.
Never has there been a more real one than Bryant. His fierce competitiveness was only matched by his pure love of the game. His passing in 2020 didn’t just leave a hole in the hearts of NBA fans, but also robbed them of the incredible insights the five-time champion began to share after his retirement in 2016.
