2nd Grade Teacher: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Me: “Kobe”
That’s who Kobe was to me. Even from a young age, I could tell Kobe “Bean” Bryant was just different. And I aspired to be just like him. Not until I got older did I realize that while Kobe was a special player, he was even more of a badass off the court. He won an Oscar, was an extremely successful investor, a storyteller, and a five-time world champion. Forget trying to be an all-around player, Kobe Bryant was an all-around person.
Kobe was an idol to me. Growing up, I’d rock my number 8 gold Lakers jersey everywhere I went. And once I got enough money to buy my very first pair of sneakers, Kobes are what I chased after. Just like Michael Jordan was for countless kids, Kobe was my GOAT. Without him, who knows if I would be into basketball, sports, or pop culture. As a young kid growing up in a small town in New Jersey, I wanted to be just like Kobe. I wanted to be the first Indian player in the league, Brown Mamba if you will, and it was all because of the joy that watching Kobe brought me. I would spend countless hours on my driveway mimicking his game-winners, pretending to be him even if just for one moment.
Growing up, I was a very sore loser and I can 100% attribute to Kobe. Kobe was by far the craziest, most competitive dude I’ve ever seen and I fell in love with it. He was okay with losing but never okay with losing due to getting outworked, and that really left an impression on me from a young age. I envied his work ethic and wanted to show that I too had that Mamba Mentality in every facet of life. Every single thing Kobe stood out, he was never a normal athlete. As a kid, one of the first books I read was about Kobe Bryant’s upbringing in Italy. The thing that jumped out to me is the fact that Kobe never played video games. As a kid, that’s insane. At the age of 10, Kobe knew that he had no time for distractions and that anything that wasn’t a part of his goal, of playing in the NBA, was a waste of time. There are grown men and women who struggle with self-control, but not 10-year old Kobe. It was basketball, school, homework, and basketball. Every. Single. Day. No distractions. He was a different breed from day one.
When he retired, I realized that basketball was just the start of his journey and the rest of the novel that was his life was just starting to be written. That somber January 26th helicopter crash wasn’t just heartbreaking because it took away a great basketball player, but instead because it cut short the life of Kobe Bryant. He truly was just getting started being a girl dad, an activist for change in the world of female sports, an in-demand storyteller, and for the first time was enjoying the fruits of his labor. After dedicating his entire life to basketball from such a young age, Kobe Bryant was simply enjoying life and it unfairly got cut short.
But while he was on this planet, Kobe made sure to make the most of it. His work ethic was unmatchable and his will was off the charts. Mamba Mentality is a real thing and it’s one of the many lasting legacies he left with us. No matter what you do or what your profession is, Kobe taught us to give it 1000% each time and to put all your focus towards your one goal. Mamba Mentality is the chase for constant self-improvement and that’s how Kobe lived his life every single day. That was the one constant with Kobe: to be better. Regardless of if you played basketball or not, you could have learned that from Kobe. He loved the process more than the outcome. One of my favorite stories about Kobe was from after his playing days, the very first day of his post-basketball life. The morning after he dropped 60 points, and mic-dropped out of Staples Center into retirement, he woke up to hit the gym and was in his office by 8:30 AM ready to get to work. If that’s not the most Kobe Bryant thing, then I don’t know what it is.
Without trying to, Kobe inspired the entire world. We were lucky enough to witness the growth of a young kid coming out of Lower Merion High School transform into an intellectual legend ready to conquer the post-basketball world. And while he’s no longer with us, he lives on through the motivation he gives me and millions of others like me who are still to this day inspired by the way he went about his business. And while my quest for the NBA is long over, I still live each day with that Mamba Mentality. Whether it’s while playing pickup, my everyday job at StockX, or even while playing a board game, my goal is always to get better as Kobe would often say.
Kobe was so influential that he appears in me, and countless others like me, to the point where whenever I’m ready to give up on something, I think, “What would the Mamba do?” The answer – Work Harder! Kobe is one of those rare individuals who will last forever. And while I’m sad that future kids won’t see him sitting courtside at Lakers games, they will definitely know how special of a player and a person he was because his legacy and competitive nature will last forever. It’s been seven months since Kobe suddenly passed away and it still feels like a bad nightmare. We miss you Kobe and we hope you’re enjoying life up in heaven, maybe even playing 1v1 with Gigi. Thank you for inspiring me and millions of others to be better and never get outworked. Now it’s our turn to return the favor and continue what you started.
Mamba may be out, but Mamba Forever!
