The one thing that all fans can agree upon when talking about Kobe Bryant is his mentality. The Black Mamba’s legendary will to succeed despite the odds is a huge part of why he’s talked about as one of the greatest players of all time. This mentality of his often made most players afraid to face him in games, but an excerpt from his book ‘Mamba Mentality’ revealed that LeBron James found Bryant’s intensity inspiring.
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It should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Kobe “always aimed to kill the opposition.” His words, not ours. Of course, this desire to absolutely decimate his competition resulted in a lot of conversations between him and Bron, and according to Kobe, they discussed what exactly constituted a “killer mentality.”
Kobe was always the aggressor, and would take the initiative to the opposition. Much like how he wrote in his book, LeBron observed Kobe go out and be competitive on the practice courts, and drew inspiration from that.
As Bryant wrote in ‘Mamba Mentality,’ one particular practice incident completely changed James’ approach to leadership. In what we can assume to be a Team USA practice session, Bryant wrote about how the team was just messing around and how he berated them for it when they had an interval from it.
“I remember there was one half when we were messing around. I came into the locker room at half-time and asked the guys—in a less PG manner—what in the hell we were doing,” he said. “In the second half, LeBron responded in a big way—he came out with a truly dominant mindset. And I’ve seen him lead that way ever since.”
If our assumption is correct, then this is the 2008 Olympic sessions, and James’ steady growth as a leader that came after was only possible because of the influence that his friend Bryant had on him. But don’t just take our word for it- James himself has claimed that Kobe’s very presence fuelled him to go out and be the best version of himself.
When LeBron James credited his growth as a competitor to Kobe Bryant
During Kobe’s 2016 farewell tour, players from all around the NBA spoke about what he meant to them. James, before playing his final game against Bryant, sat down the LA Daily News’ Mark Medina to speak about his relationship with the Mamba.
As the most hyped prospect in NBA history, James always knew he would have tp work hard to justify the fanfare he entered the league with, but while speaking to Medina, James explained how Kobe influenced his growth as a superstar.
“I knew I had to be better because of Kobe Bryant,” James said. “I knew he was in the gym and I knew he was working on his game. So every day that I didn’t want to work out or every day I felt like I couldn’t give more, I always thought of Kobe. Because I knew that he was getting better and I was like, ‘Man, if you take a day off, he’s going to take advantage of it.'”
Kobe’s influence must’ve been stronger than anyone thought because that season, LeBron James and his Cavs pulled off the impossible. He led a 3-1 comeback against the 73-9 Warriors to win his 3rd ring, and the franchise’s first.
