Seemingly every NBA star has a personal story about Kobe Bryant. From tales about his terrifying ability on the court to his relentless pursuit of greatness or receiving life-changing advice from him, every player who had the opportunity to spend time with the late Lakers icon has a core memory of him. Hawks star Trae Young shared his on DeepCut with VicBlends.
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The 25-year-old was asked if he ever branches outside of the game of basketball to look for inspiration. After naming his kids as his biggest inspiration, Young reminisced about receiving an important life lesson from Bryant. He recalled meeting the Lakers icon at a summer camp and claimed the advice he received that day became a part of his mindset. Young said,
“He came in, flew in on his helicopter. We all were sitting down at half-court. He walked in… The moral of the story was, us lions, we need sheep to hunt… There’s place for y’all sheep out here and he was looking at every kid in there and was just basically like, ‘Us lions, we get each other.”
Bryant explained to the kids at camp they would have to look at their competitors as sheep if they intended to become lions like him. Young revealed that since that interaction with the Lakers icon, he has lived and shaped his career with those words in mind. After he was drafted by the Hawks in 2018, the duo developed a mentor-mentee relationship.
In the little time he spent with the Lakers superstar, Young learned a lot of valuable lessons. During an appearance on All The Smoke podcast in May 2020, he spoke about his relationship with Bryant. The three-time All-Star said,
“Me and Kobe got to talk pretty frequently, and he just gave me a lot of advice. So two of the three games he went to this season were once when I played in LA, and another when I played in Brooklyn.”
The two-time Finals MVP was fond of the Hawks star because of his talent and tenacity and his daughter Gigi looked up to the guard as an inspiration. During an appearance on The Undefeated podcast, Young revealed that she told him she was a massive fan of him.
It was a full-circle moment for him. He grew up idolizing Bryant and wanting to be like him. He and his daughter validating him was a moment he’ll cherish forever.
