There are plenty of stories we’re yet to know about Kobe Bryant and everything he did both on and off the court. This man had a different mindset, and he never hesitated to show that, shocking people around him.
Recently, his former trainer Tim Grover was interviewed on The Complex Podcast. He talked about his career and two of his best clients, Michael Jordan and Kobe. Like MJ, Bryant was different, and Grover learned every day he spent with Kobe.
As a matter of fact, he told the story of when Kobe took his alter egos for dinner. So yes, Bryant did that and Grover couldn’t believe it.
Via Sportscasting:
“We finished a game, Kobe and I decide to go out to eat in a restaurant … and he goes, ‘I need a table for four.’ I’m like, ‘It’s just the two of us.’ I didn’t ask. I didn’t ask,” Grover said on the May 18 episode.
Grover then said that two men came up and asked if they could sit with them since there were two free seats, but Bryant wouldn’t let them.“Kobe said, ‘These seats are taken,’” Grover said to Complex. “I’m like, ‘Man, am I working this guy out too hard? He’s starting to hallucinate a little bit.’
”Bryant’s former trainer then added that the two men probably thought Kobe was just being a jerk, so he finally decided to ask about the two open seats.
“I said, ‘Kobe, who are those seats filled with?’” Grover said. “He goes, ‘Wherever I go’ … where they say, ‘everyone tries to hide their skeletons,’ he goes, ‘I bring everything and all of me with me. The good, the bad, the indifferent. And those seats are for those individuals because they make me who I am.’ So, he’s talking about his alter ego, the mamba mentality.”
Grover then also said that there were even drinks for the other two empty seats.
“There were drinks sitting all the way around,” he added. “And then those other two drinks, they were sitting there before he was getting ready to leave; I just kind of looked at him. There was two shots of tequila. He walked out, and I took the two shots real quick. You can’t leave good tequila on the table.”
This perfectly sums up how great Kobe was, how real he was to himself and the rest of the people and his mindset towards the world. Unfortunately, he passed away last year but his legacy will never be forgotten.
He became a Hall of Famer last weekend in a very touching ceremony. While people like Grover keep sharing these details about Kobe, he’ll always be in the mind of those that saw him play with the Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years.
This is the Mamba Mentality as it finest.
