Kobe Bryant was one of the most competitive players in the history of the NBA. He spent 20 years in the league and had the fire in him to surpass each and every opponent of his. What’s great is the fact that he succeeded in doing so against most of his opponents.
A huge reason for his success in the league is his ever-so-famous ‘Mamba Mentality.’ Similar to NBA legend Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant had the tendency to take everything personally.
If he decided to dominate a team on a particular day, he succeeded in doing so more often than not. As a result, it was very difficult to guard Kobe. On that note, 2x NBA champion JR Smith talked about something similar in a recent interview with Gilbert Arenas.
Smith was asked about which player he thought was the toughest to guard in the NBA. As expected, Smith took the name of the L.A. Lakers legend.
(Starts at 1:20):
“I used to hate it. I knew every night it was gonna be a problem. I used to hate coming to L.A. because I always wanted to go out when we played against the Lakers, but I knew I couldn’t. If I went out, he (Kobe) was gonna have 50.
Bryant was a student of the game, and he studied his opponents’ weaknesses very carefully. If he found even a single flaw in their game, he would take advantage of it when he faced off against them.
If Smith came into the game against the Lakers with a hangover, it would have been equal to presenting Bryant with a sensational game. Stories like these prove how good of a player Kobe was and how much NBA players still respect the Mamba.
