Kobe Bryant was as committed as they come, his ability to assimilate all the information he possibly could to get better was second to none. The Mamba learned from people that were the best in their fields, not just basketball, and it helped him become the best version of himself.
Kobe Bryant was able to access many of the greatest athletes and celebrities thanks to his celebrity and wealth. He had a famous story of how he met Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho when the former was just 17. And if a story Rob Pelinka once told is to be believed, Kobe Bryant was also inspired after having dinner with Heath Ledger.
“There was one time when Kobe, who I worked with for 18 years, was going back to play in Madison Square Garden. And he had just seen ‘The Dark Knight.’ Obviously, you guys saw that movie, and he’s like, ‘Hey, hook me up with dinner with Heath Ledger, because he got so locked in to that role. I want to know how he mentally went there.’ And so, he had dinner with Heath, and he talked about how he locks in for a role. And Kobe used some of that in his game against the Knicks in terms of mental preparation.”
The only issue with this story is the fact that Heath Ledger passed away before The Dark Knight was even released. While some thought Bryant had seen a pre-screening, Kobe once cleared up the situation in an interview.
Kobe Bryant On The Real Story Of Heath Ledger Inspiring Him To Destroy The Knicks
Kobe Bryant dropped 61 points against the New York Knicks in 2009, one of the most iconic performances of all time. And this was reportedly thanks to Heath Ledger’s Joker. Bryant told the actual story during an appearance on the Knuckleheads podcast in 2019.
“I had to find that space. I didn’t go out to dinner in New York. I stayed in my room. This is actually the story Rob told, that he got confused about, the Heath Ledger stuff. Because I stayed up watching Batman, and watching Heath Ledger.
“And then I went and started researching about Heath Ledger, and how he got into character and how he just became all-consuming. That inspired me to go into my Garden mode. When I go in there I don’t want to say hi to the gen—I don’t want say hi to these people—I don’t wanna talk to nobody. Everybody leave me alone.”
It truly is tragic that the world lost two greats like Kobe Bryant and Heath Ledger at such a young age. But it goes to show that greatness recognizes greatness because Bryant was inspired by Ledger’s performance despite never meeting him. In a way, that makes the story even better and what’s amazing is that both their masterful performances can be enjoyed by everyone forever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMluwP1C8gg
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