Byron Scott has just shared a perspective that contextualizes Kobe Bryant’s ‘Mamba Mentality’. Scott won three championships with the ‘Showtime’ Lakers before bouncing around the league. In 1997, he returned to LA, where he played next to Shaquille O’Neal and an 18-year-old Bryant.
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During a recent episode of ‘Byron Scott’s Fast Break’, the three-time NBA champion stated, “Kobe Bryant was not the most talented player that I’ve seen on the basketball court.”
He pointed to Bryant’s contemporaries like Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter, regarding them as athletes with greater talent. After giving T-Mac and Vince their flowers, Scott continued, “But they didn’t have that oomph that Kobe had…And that’s why when he would go against those guys, he would shine.”
From 2014 to 2016, Scott was also the head coach for the Lakers, overseeing the ‘Black Mamba’s final two seasons. His perspective is valuable because he saw Kobe up close during his first and last seasons in the league.
“He would never work out just once a day,” the former coach stated. Scott recalled how Bryant would lift weights and put up 500 shots before two-hour-long team practices. Then, Kobe would return later at night to practice some more. For Byron Scott, the most amazing part of this routine was how scientifically Bryant viewed it.
Scott recalled hearing the philosophy behind the workouts from the Lakers legend, who claimed, “If I work out 3 times a day, and all these other guys who are so called great players work out just for practice, they just work out that one time a day, over a 5 year period, they can’t catch me.”
And catch him, they couldn’t. Whether it was against his opponents or his teammates, the ‘Black Mamba’ always maintained an onus on self-improvement and practice. Sometimes to the detriment of team chemistry.
Why Kobe wouldn’t pass the ball to all of his teammates
There’s a reason why Metta Sandiford-Artest gleefully shouted “Kobe passed me the ball!” after hitting the 3 that won the Lakers the 2010 NBA Finals. Bryant was famously stingy as a playmaker, but his reasoning behind it was never about ball-hogging or isolation scoring.
“I’m in here busting my a** every day, trying to perfect my craft and these dudes don’t want to work on their game. I don’t trust them, so I’m not going to pass them the basketball,” Kobe told the Lakers’ former assistant coach, Phil Handy.
Bryant was irked by nonchalant athletes, who showed up to practice ten minutes before it started and left immediately after. For the ‘Black Mamba’, who was obsessed with becoming better and proving himself against the greats, this was unrelatable.
Whatever one may think of his methods, Bryant did what was necessary to win 5 NBA championships and leave an indelible mark on the game. This is why when Scott coached Bryant’s final game, he only had one command for his team – get the ball to the Mamba.
