“It’s Exciting When You Lose”: Kobe Bryant Reinvented The Concept Of Dealing With A Loss

Kobe Bryant achieved everything an NBA player possibly could during his time in the league. However, he was also on the receiving end of plenty of demoralizing defeats. But rather than letting those embarrassing losses affect him, Bryant saw them as lessons that could help him improve.

In an interview with New York Times bestselling author Lewis Howes, the five-time NBA champion explained how he perceived losses.

“[It] sucks to lose, but at the same time, there are answers there. It’s exciting when you win, it’s exciting when you lose because the process should be exactly the same. You go back and you look and you find things that you could’ve done better. Certain weaknesses that were exposed. But the hardest thing is to face that stuff. The mistakes that you’ve made in that game, you’ve to do the hard stuff and watch that game and study that game to not make those mistakes over and over again.”

Bryant understood the importance of learning from his embarrassing moments and working on them rather than letting them define him from a young age. One of his earliest mortifying experiences in the NBA came during the playoffs in his rookie season.

In Game 5 of the Lakers’ Western Conference semi-final series against the Utah Jazz, Bryant shot four airballs in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Lakers lost 98-93 and were eliminated.

Instead of letting that humiliating display affect his confidence, Bryant analyzed it to understand why it happened. In an interview with Valuentertaiment founder Patrick Bet-David, Bryant said,

“In high school you play 35 games max, week in-between, spaced out. In the NBA it’s back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. I didn’t have the legs. You look at the shot, every shot was on line, but every shot was short. Right? I got to get stronger. I got to train differently.”

Bryant realized his shots were accurate but not powerful enough, so he changed his off-season workout regime to get stronger and have the strength and stamina to shoot the ball late in the campaign. His ability to identify his weaknesses and work on them is the reason why many consider him the greatest player ever.

Kobe Bryant’s incredible take on failure

Kobe Bryant attempted 56 game-winners in his career and sunk only 14. He had a 75% failure rate when he had the chance to win the game with the last shot. However, Bryant did not view it in the same vein. In an interview, he said,

“What does failure mean? It doesn’t exist. It’s a figment of your imagination. The point is, the story continues. So if you fail on Monday, the only way it’s a failure on Monday is if you decide to not progress from that. Because if I fail today, okay, I’m gonna learn something from that failure and I’m gonna try again on Tuesday…. The worst possible thing you could ever has is to stop and to not learn.”

Bryant’s inability to register failure and his constant drive to get better by outworking his peers was the hallmark of Mamba Mentality. The mindset has rubbed off on many modern NBA stars, who have embraced the Los Angeles Lakers icon’s dedication to his craft.

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is among those who believe they have the same mentality Bryant did. In an interview with the Athletic, he said,

“I wasn’t close to [Kobe]. I wasn’t this with him or that with him. But I would say this, in some areas of his mindset, I think we’re very similar.”

Antetokounmpo is right. Bryant also saw the same drive in the Bucks star that he had. He challenged him to win the MVP award and the NBA title and achieved both.

The Mamba Mentality is not for everyone. However, those who possess it have rarely failed in life.