Kobe Bryant spent 20 seasons in the NBA, and by the end of his career, he established himself as one of the greatest players in the history of the league.
During the first few seasons of his career, Kobe took his sweet time in getting adjusted to the NBA. But even as an 18-year-old, Bryant had all the ingredients to be successful. Former Lakers player Nick Van Exel revealed in a 2012 ESPN interview that he thought a young Kobe was similar to Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird.
“The thought I had was, it was just when,” Van Exel told ESPN about Kobe surpassing Shaquille O’Neal on the all-time scoring list. “When is he going to do it? The kid worked so hard coming in as a rookie. He definitely worked harder than anybody else. He has that kind of the Michael Jordan, the Magic Johnson, the Larry Bird, he has that ‘it’ about him. There’s not many guys that have that. Kobe has it, and that’s why he’s special .”
Van Exel added: “Easy. You could tell he was going to blow the league away eventually because his mindset was, as an 18-year-old rookie coming in, was, ‘I’m the best one-on-one player in the league.’ Like, that’s what he thought when you had Michael Jordan, you had some great players [playing at the time], he felt he was the best player in the league at 18 years old.”
Kobe Bryant had an unreal mentality from a young age. He had the will to be the best player in the NBA from day one and worked hard to attain that goal. Although Kobe averaged just 7.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 1.3 APG in his rookie year, he still believed that he’d one day become the best player in the world.
Even before entering the league, when he was just 13 years old, Kobe declared to Horace Grant that he might become a superstar in the NBA. Well, after a phenomenal career that lasted for 20 years, Kobe not only become a superstar but also unarguably one of the greatest players of all time.
Kobe Bryant Had Complete Trust In His Skills As A Player
Kobe Bryant was blessed with a natural talent to play the game of basketball, but it was his unwavering confidence in his abilities that helped him become an all-time great.
One great example of this was when Kobe was getting ready to face Michael Jordan. A teammate of his advised him not to look MJ in the eyes. Instead of taking it as a warning, Bryant gave a legendary response.
“When I was getting ready to face Jordan, I had a teammate he goes to me, ‘Hey, you want some advice? Whatever you do, don’t look him in the eye.’ Wait, excuse me? Why the hell would I not look him in the eye? I don’t think my teammate understood, I’m that too.”
That’s just one example of how much trust Bryant had in his abilities. The Mamba was one of a kind player and will forever be missed by NBA fans.
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