Kevin Durant reveals that Kobe Bryant has a massive impact on the current Team USA and would want to honour him by playing with passion and energy on each play.
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Kobe Bryant was one of the greatest players to have played in the league. His sheer competitive spirit and the crazy passion for being the best version of himself at any given time was what set him apart from his opponents. For over two long decades, the Black Mamba kept preaching his famous Mamba Mentality, while instilling the same mentality in all of his fans from around the world.
Being one of the hardest working guys, a lot of today’s NBA stars used to look up to Bean as their role model. The impact and influence the Mamba has on the sporting community are quite surreal.
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His whole life, Kobe decided to play at the highest level, every single night. Playing with the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 long seasons, Kobe built up one of the most decorated resumes ever. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard was an 18-time All-Star, 15-time All-NBA, 5-time NBA champ, 2-time Finals MVP, MVP and even got enshrined into the esteemed Hall-Of-Fame.
“We all want to honour Kobe Bryant by playing with passion and energy every single play”: Kevin Durant
Apart from being a league legend, the Mamba was one of the most accomplished Team USA players. Kobe led the USA to win the World Cup in 2007, and Olympic Games in 2008 & 2012.
Kevin Durant, who was Bean’s teammate during the 2012 Olympics, recently spoke about the influence and impact Bryant has on the current Team USA. During a press conference, KD spoke about the American hero, and how the team planned to honour him.
“Kobe Bryant is the guy that all of us looked up to and watched as kids. Even when he was alive and playing, his DNA was embedded in us. From afar, [he] thought us what the game is about, what work ethic is about.”
“Now that he’s not with us no more… We all want to honour his teachings by going out there. And playing with that passion, with that energy every single play.”
“Guys that had close relationships will understand, how he will approach every single day, especially with team USA. He really took pride in being part of this group, part of this team. And we all feed off it, feed off that type of energy. He was always big to every one of us here. We miss him because he would be here supporting us.
“Even when he was alive and playing, his DNA was embedded in us”@KDTrey5 talks about honoring the great @kobebryant and his legacy of @usabasketball for @Olympics.#TokyoOlympics | #USABasketball | #3ptcnvrsn | #KobeBryant | #Olympics pic.twitter.com/uK64ezGDTk
— The 3 Point Conversion (@3ptCnvrsn) July 9, 2021
Kobe Bryant tragic passed away in a helicopter crash on 27th January 2020. Some people have still not recovered from this shocking news. Bryant may have gone, but his legacy is always going to live on.
