To talk about Kobe Bryant is to talk about greatness. The game became the Hall of Famer’s identity, while his love and dedication to basketball have become the stuff of legends. Dedication indeed is the word that defines Kobe. However, former NBA player Paul Shirley has a different word for it.
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Now 47, Shirley recently sat down for an interview with Jason Whitlock, where Kobe became the central topic. Shirley, who had brief stints with the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and Phoenix Suns, recalled the moment he figured out the kind of man Kobe really was.
He recalled a training camp in 2001 and referenced a joke Shaquille O’Neal used to make back then about Kobe’s perceived lack of personality. But Shirley didn’t see it as a joke. When he looked at the ‘Black Mamba’, he saw a man who seemed devoid of human emotion.
“I thought at the time, Kobe Bryant is a true sociopath,” he stated. “He doesn’t have real emotions. And that was frightening to me. Just to see that in action because it was so unsettling in the way that being around any sociopath is.”
That’s a pretty bold claim from a guy who, in basketball circles, is largely forgettable. But it’s not like Shirley didn’t encounter other players. He mentioned Kevin Garnett and Steven Nash as guys who also had a big spotlight on them but were present in the moment as true leaders on the court.
“I met hundreds and hundreds of basketball players, so I was able to pretty well catalog did I like this guy, did I not,” he continued. “But there was something about Kobe Bryant that was weird and odd to me when I was around him.”
Shirley did specify that he felt odd about speaking ill of the dead. But he revealed that it’s not the first time he’s been critical of Kobe’s mental state. And there is some proof that Kobe was just wired differently.
Gilbert Arenas once shared how Kobe would shoot 500 shots from the same spot — one of his many training routines — after getting to the gym at 3 a.m. All this, while screaming at trainers to put pressure on him for in-game situations. “Like he was fighting for his f***ing life,” stated Gil when recalling the routine in an old interview.
It wasn’t just his workouts that seemed intense. It was how he treated his teammates. The five-time NBA champion had wonderful, lifelong relationships with the likes of Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher, but he also had a reputation for being an incredibly hard person to deal with.
Coach Phil Handy had cracked the code as to why Kobe behaved that way. “I don’t respect their work ethic,” the famed assistant coach recalled Bryant telling him. For Kobe, it was all about the game. He didn’t want to play with people who weren’t committed.
And say what you will about it, but that’s exactly how the four-time NBA champ developed the Mamba Mentality. His dedication to excellence is why he’ll be talked about until we’re all stardust.
Calling him a sociopath isn’t inaccurate, but it’s also not the word most would use to define the man.
