Kobe Bryant was one of the biggest stars to ever play in the NBA. When the Mamba passed away in a tragic helicopter crash in 2020, it shocked the entire world to its core.
Many associated with the NBA shared their stories about the legendary basketball superstar. Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was one of them when he shared details about how his first meeting with Kobe.
“I still remember the first time I met him,” Spoelstra said. “I was an assistant coach, and one of my responsibilities was with the young players. Rasual Butler and I walked out for an early workout. The veterans would always have the best time slotted to work out before the game, so we had to get our work in way before everybody. We got in there four and a half hours [before the game]. We thought we would be there way before anyone else would be on the court. Kobe was already on the court.
“The painstaking detail and focus he was putting into that workout was remarkable. Rasual and I just ended up watching about 15 or 20 minutes of it. Then we went back to work. And as Kobe finished up his workout, he came and sat down, and it was a surreal moment as a young assistant coach. I was like: ‘Wow, he’s going to sit here and watch this workout.’ Rasual was from Philly, so they knew each other, and he wound up introducing me to [Kobe].”
Spoelstra continued and shared what he found most amazing about that meeting with Bryant.
“And what I found so amazing about that moment, the reason I bring it up, is because there was nobody that was going to be more fierce or more of a savage as a competitor [than Kobe], and yet the next two minutes of what Kobe was doing to encourage a young player [in Rasual] was simply amazing. And that was early mentorship, when [Kobe] was still a young player [himself] in this league. But Rasual wasn’t playing at the time, and Kobe could separate the two things and offer a lot of encouragement, basically telling him: ‘Hey, you stick with this. That kind of workout, you’re going to earn your spot in this league, it’s just a matter of time.’
“And then to come out in the game that night and just try to destroy everybody. It was paradoxical almost, those two kinds of personalities. He was very giving. We all saw that later in his career when he was such a mentor. But also one of the fiercest competitors you could ever come across.”
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During his life, Bryant impressed many with his will to compete and become the best player to ever play in the NBA.
Evidently, the Mamba played with a chip on his shoulder and wanted to destroy his opponents. But as coach Spo detailed, it wouldn’t have been possible without Bryant’s insane training regime.
Kobe Bryant Was Happy When LeBron James Joined The Miami Heat In 2010
Years after meeting Kobe Bryant for the first time, Erik Spoelstra had a chance to prepare his teams to face off against Kobe when he became the head coach of the Heat.
When LeBron James joined the Miami Heat in 2010, coach Spo’s Heat undoubtedly became better than Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers. Many anticipated an NBA Finals matchup between the two sides.
Although fans never got to see that, Bryant was still happy when James joined the Heat in 2010.
Despite James being his rival, Kobe wanted to see him happy. Even though Bryant was a fierce competitor, he still wanted to see his friends and opponents happy in their careers.
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