Besides being one of the greatest players of all time, Kobe Bryant also made a name for himself around the league because of his relentless character, tough-minded personality, and unmatched work ethic.
Kobe demanded 110% effort from his teammates because that’s what he put on every single day. Needless to say, he was a tough guy to impress and once you disappointed him, there wasn’t going back.
That mentality was in full display in a story told by Lakers assistant Phil Handy on All The Smoke, claiming that what he remembered the most about him was ‘his realness’:
“His realness, man,” Handy started. “He was misunderstood. I asked him one time, ‘Why you such an a**hole?’ I asked him that. And he said, ‘You really wanna know? Some of my teammates don’t understand the work. I see dudes walking into practice 10 minutes before practice and they leave right after. Why the **k am I going to pass them the basketball? I don’t respect their work ethic. “I’m in here busting my a** every day trying to perfect my craft and these dudes don’t want to work on their game. I don’t trust them. So I’m not going to pass them the basketball. I’m gonna ride them hard every day.”
Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy told a classic story about Kobe’s “realness” on All The Smoke 🐍 #MambaMentality
(🎥: @Matt_Barnes22, @94FeetOfGame, @ShoBasketball) pic.twitter.com/pbrb8Uo5nQ
— Turn This TV Off (@ImJust_JP) June 18, 2021
That’s Kobe Bryant 101 right there. He needed to see that you were willing to go the extra mile every single day in order to trust you. If you approached the game of basketball as a 9 to 5 job, he wasn’t going to go to war with you.
Bryant may have been a tough teammate to deal with for most of his career but that determination is also one of the main reasons why he won 5 rings, 1 MVP, and became the greatest player in Los Angeles Lakers history.
