The late LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was not only known for the extraordinary talent that he had. Bryant was also a hustler, a clutch player who was always looking for ways to get better. Bryant showed a level of determination and a winning mentality that is not often seen in the NBA. This determination also existed off the court, something which was apparent in the way he learned to play the piano for his wife, Vanessa Bryant.
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Bryant, who would often learn things on his own, decided to learn a Beethoven composition “by ear.” Kobe ended up listening to the “Moonlight Sonata” on his headphones for hours and eventually learned it. Instead of trying to impress people, he only wanted to learn the piano for his wife.
Kobe Bryant once learned the piano “by ear” to impress his wife Vanessa
While Bryant had no shortage of piano teachers who would have taught him the instrument for a buck, he decided to instead do it himself. While Beethoven’s compositions are considered very difficult to learn, Bryant was built differently.
He ended up “brute forcing” his way into learning the composition. Bryant started out by listening to the “Midnight Sonnet” repeatedly on his headphones and eventually learned it. Of course, instead of trying to impress his colleagues, he was simply trying to impress his wife Vanessa.
“Sitting down and taking lessons would be too easy. There’s not much out there you can’t figure out eventually”
Kobe Bryant was always going to extreme lengths to improve himself
Bryant was one of the hardest-working players the NBA ever saw, apart from being one of the most talented. He would often spend hours studying opponents and wanted to be at his best to take on other players.
For example, Kobe was preparing for the 2000 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers and Allan Iverson. Speaking to the Player’s Tribune in 2017, Bryant had claimed that he obsessively looked for all and any weaknesses that he could find in Iverson’s game.
Bryant ended up looking over videos of past games, including the IUPU All-American game. The LA Lakers were eventually successful and won the 1st of their 3 back-to-back championships.
“I obsessively read every article and book I could find about AI. I obsessively watched every game he had played, going back to the IUPU All-American Game. I obsessively studied his every success, and his every struggle. I obsessively searched for any weakness I could find.”
