Kobe Bryant was one of the most competitive basketball players in the history of the sport, always looking for the smallest of advantages over his opponents in a game. That sort of instinct is required in the NBA, as the smallest margin of error for one player can lead to big results for another player. Kobe knew this better than anyone and spent his whole life honing his mentality.
Bryant spent the early years of life in Italy, as his father, Jellybean Bryant played professionally in the country after a few years in the NBA. Kobe learned about the game from his father and put his skills on display against other kids his age in Italy. This led to a young Bryant being racially abused and called a ‘scuro‘, which means dark in Italian, as he made the 9 players he shared the court with cry.
“He dribbled and shot and shot and dribbled and scored so many points – scored the first ten points in his first game – that the other nine players started crying and their parents started screaming to get this spoiled little scuro off the court.” (h/t NY Post)
This was revealed in Mike Sielski’s book ‘The Rise — Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality’. Bryant would move back to the United States after his father retired from basketball, becoming one of the best high school players in Philadelphia and being drafted into the NBA before turning 18 years old.
Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Mentality Was Bound To Upset People
Kobe Bryant was always going to have an edge over his opponents in Italy. Not only is basketball not the primary sport there, but he was also being personally taught by his father at that age. We all know the mentality that Kobe had, so he was going to use everything in his arsenal to prove a point.
His opponents were other kids who didn’t take the game as seriously as him, so they were bound to be upset. Kobe’s mentality served him well for the entirety of his NBA career, as the teachings of his ‘Mamba Mentality’ have become an aspirational target for NBA players. Everybody wants to have Mamba Mentality on the court, and that credit goes entirely to Kobe.
