There are those in your life that you never have a chance to meet, but you feel like they are a part of you. I always marveled at Kobe Bryant as a player, a competitor, and as someone who burned so hot to be the best. The determination, the fire, the scowl during competition, the will to win, the obsessiveness, the one who always wanted to take the last shot and never feared missing it, how he saw the world...the one who every opponent feared. Relentless. The best. Mamba.
I was never a good basketball player, but I loved the sport, and I just loved watching the best compete at whatever sport it may be. The types who without extra concerned effort pull you to the TV to watch their greatness. The true authentic/real types...that was Kobe. He didn't need/want to be Michael Jordan, he needed/wanted to be the best Kobe Bryant. The type who could brand himself with just his first name, and a mentality that would inspire many to be the best at what they do...the mamba mentality.
I had a basketball hoop at my house growing up, and like most kids I would try and create my own Kobe heroic moments by hitting the game winning shot even though I could barely dribble with my left hand. We all wanted to be that guy. We all wanted those moments. We all wanted to be great. He inspired that.
Most recently, a close friend of mine introduced Kobe videos to me for us to learn about the mamba mentality. We both love learning from the anomaly's of the world, looking for ways to develop our own self-improvement. We'd watch the videos together in awe of Kobe's greatness knowing he was someone "different." They say to become the best, you should study and learn from the best. It doesn't matter the profession, figure out how they tick and what creates their success. While watching these videos and learning about Kobe's craft, we often would laugh in amazement at how his brain worked. How he viewed failure as something that doesn't exist but is made up in your mind; his workout regimen that most days started with a 3AM wakeup call; his curiosity about the world and other successful people, "I'll just call them and ask questions"; his sheer burning fire intensity, "Kobe would take your heart and your balls and everything in between, and then glare at you for taking too long to grow more guts for him to rip apart...no one was spared"; his MAKING of 2,000 shots a day...and not just shots, real game like shots with specific moves on all parts of the court; his awareness of how to motivate his teammates and when/how to push the right buttons; how he couldn't stand lazy people, "I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you"; his killer instinct that was established as a young boy when he felt snubbed in the player rankings, "I would find the players ranked ahead of me and make sure I guarded them"; how he viewed setbacks and tough roads ahead (one foot in front of the other until eventually you reach the top of that mountain); how he acknowledged, accepted, embraced, unpacked fear as nothing more than the imagination taking its course; how he loved basketball so much but understood it was not what defined him; the amazing husband/father he was while making himself the mamba. He had a way to him where complex/difficult concepts that typically derail others seemed so simple and achievable. It's how he was wired.
Was this all something he learned? Or was he genetically made up different than any athlete that has walked this planet? It was a fair question, but whatever that answer is, it doesn't matter. Kobe Bryant and the mamba mentality motivated my friend and I, and millions of others to be the best at what we do. He helped us figure out how to continuously improve our own recipe. There is a quote from Kobe going around that speaks perfectly to this, "The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do." That he did. Obviously during his basketball career, but also post career. He found his next competition, his purpose, and still had so much more to give. He motivated millions by just being true to himself. That...is legacy.
Kobe's passing along with his daughter is heavy on my mind. I'm not the only one, we are all grieving. It was ironic to me that I learned about Kobe's passing while on the phone with the friend I mention above...the one who pushed the mamba mentality on me to create our own self-growth. Being cut off on the phone with a "Burm...Kobe died." In moments like that you don't know what to say. You don't want it to be true. You feel numb. For whatever reason, it did bring some ease to me that we learned about it together. I know it's because Kobe created such profound thought and discussion between us as we learned and got pulled into his greatness. He created special moments of reflection, conversation, and motivation. He made us feel like we could do more, and that we could also make complex concepts simple in our own minds. Together, we were drawn to him. So it seemed appropriate that we learned of his passing together. He is gone now, but legacy truly does live forever. The learning of his greatness will never stop. We can only strive to have the same impact.
I really do hate how we need profound tragedy to remind ourselves how precious time is, and how arbitrary our time on earth can be. I'm just as guilty as everyone else. But it's important to remember that it feels like tragedy because we were gifted with the life of someone special. A true global citizen. A 1%. So through the grieving we need to be grateful for all the moments we were gifted from Kobe Bryant. We grieve because he made his mark. I'll mourn for a life with so much more to give, but I'll celebrate all that he taught and inspired within us.
Through profound tragedy of a hero I'm also reminded of all our purpose in life. To live a life that establishes our own type of legacy, like Kobe did his so powerfully. We don't need to be on TV, or have a large platform to make a powerful impact by being true and authentic in our being. It's about understanding our purpose, and always striving to be more. It's about being our best in this moment, and the next, and the next, and the next. Self-growth and finding the best version of ourself. Kobe did that. He found his recipe, and how thankful we are to have witnessed it.
"I've always said that I wanted to be remembered as a player that didn't waste a moment, didn't waste a day."
We just wanted more.
Thank you, Kobe. "Mamba out."
Burm
I was never a good basketball player, but I loved the sport, and I just loved watching the best compete at whatever sport it may be. The types who without extra concerned effort pull you to the TV to watch their greatness. The true authentic/real types...that was Kobe. He didn't need/want to be Michael Jordan, he needed/wanted to be the best Kobe Bryant. The type who could brand himself with just his first name, and a mentality that would inspire many to be the best at what they do...the mamba mentality.
I had a basketball hoop at my house growing up, and like most kids I would try and create my own Kobe heroic moments by hitting the game winning shot even though I could barely dribble with my left hand. We all wanted to be that guy. We all wanted those moments. We all wanted to be great. He inspired that.
Most recently, a close friend of mine introduced Kobe videos to me for us to learn about the mamba mentality. We both love learning from the anomaly's of the world, looking for ways to develop our own self-improvement. We'd watch the videos together in awe of Kobe's greatness knowing he was someone "different." They say to become the best, you should study and learn from the best. It doesn't matter the profession, figure out how they tick and what creates their success. While watching these videos and learning about Kobe's craft, we often would laugh in amazement at how his brain worked. How he viewed failure as something that doesn't exist but is made up in your mind; his workout regimen that most days started with a 3AM wakeup call; his curiosity about the world and other successful people, "I'll just call them and ask questions"; his sheer burning fire intensity, "Kobe would take your heart and your balls and everything in between, and then glare at you for taking too long to grow more guts for him to rip apart...no one was spared"; his MAKING of 2,000 shots a day...and not just shots, real game like shots with specific moves on all parts of the court; his awareness of how to motivate his teammates and when/how to push the right buttons; how he couldn't stand lazy people, "I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you"; his killer instinct that was established as a young boy when he felt snubbed in the player rankings, "I would find the players ranked ahead of me and make sure I guarded them"; how he viewed setbacks and tough roads ahead (one foot in front of the other until eventually you reach the top of that mountain); how he acknowledged, accepted, embraced, unpacked fear as nothing more than the imagination taking its course; how he loved basketball so much but understood it was not what defined him; the amazing husband/father he was while making himself the mamba. He had a way to him where complex/difficult concepts that typically derail others seemed so simple and achievable. It's how he was wired.
Was this all something he learned? Or was he genetically made up different than any athlete that has walked this planet? It was a fair question, but whatever that answer is, it doesn't matter. Kobe Bryant and the mamba mentality motivated my friend and I, and millions of others to be the best at what we do. He helped us figure out how to continuously improve our own recipe. There is a quote from Kobe going around that speaks perfectly to this, "The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do." That he did. Obviously during his basketball career, but also post career. He found his next competition, his purpose, and still had so much more to give. He motivated millions by just being true to himself. That...is legacy.
Kobe's passing along with his daughter is heavy on my mind. I'm not the only one, we are all grieving. It was ironic to me that I learned about Kobe's passing while on the phone with the friend I mention above...the one who pushed the mamba mentality on me to create our own self-growth. Being cut off on the phone with a "Burm...Kobe died." In moments like that you don't know what to say. You don't want it to be true. You feel numb. For whatever reason, it did bring some ease to me that we learned about it together. I know it's because Kobe created such profound thought and discussion between us as we learned and got pulled into his greatness. He created special moments of reflection, conversation, and motivation. He made us feel like we could do more, and that we could also make complex concepts simple in our own minds. Together, we were drawn to him. So it seemed appropriate that we learned of his passing together. He is gone now, but legacy truly does live forever. The learning of his greatness will never stop. We can only strive to have the same impact.
I really do hate how we need profound tragedy to remind ourselves how precious time is, and how arbitrary our time on earth can be. I'm just as guilty as everyone else. But it's important to remember that it feels like tragedy because we were gifted with the life of someone special. A true global citizen. A 1%. So through the grieving we need to be grateful for all the moments we were gifted from Kobe Bryant. We grieve because he made his mark. I'll mourn for a life with so much more to give, but I'll celebrate all that he taught and inspired within us.
Through profound tragedy of a hero I'm also reminded of all our purpose in life. To live a life that establishes our own type of legacy, like Kobe did his so powerfully. We don't need to be on TV, or have a large platform to make a powerful impact by being true and authentic in our being. It's about understanding our purpose, and always striving to be more. It's about being our best in this moment, and the next, and the next, and the next. Self-growth and finding the best version of ourself. Kobe did that. He found his recipe, and how thankful we are to have witnessed it.
"I've always said that I wanted to be remembered as a player that didn't waste a moment, didn't waste a day."
We just wanted more.
Thank you, Kobe. "Mamba out."
Burm
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