Kobe Bryant

My name is #Kobe Bryant. I had a hunger and motivation and desire to be the best possible basketball player that i can be. so at 17 I decided to skip college and take my talent to the NBA. after graduating from college I declared for NBA draft that was 1996. I was selected by the Charlotte Hornet and traded to Lakers same day. now, my dreams is beginning to play infront of me and I had to keep it burning, I just wanted to win as much as I could. remember I was just a teenager, the youngest player in NBA history. I won the NBA Dunk contest as a teenager and became the youngest All Star in NBA history playing against my childhood idol Micheal. I won my first Championship spring of 2000 my fourth NBA season in Lakers. won another one the next year and again the next. three straight NBA Championships

You see, I had a purpose. i wanted to be one of the best basketball players to ever play and anything else that was outside of that lane, i didn't have time for.
i made that deal with myself at 13 years old. so everything i saw, whether its TV shows whether is books i read, people i talked to, everything was done to try to learn how to become a better basketball player. Everything... and so when you have that point of view, then literally the world becomes your library, to help you become better at your craft.
so at 13 years old, i had a kill list. and so,you know, they used to do these rankings "street and smith" basketball rankings and i was nowhere to be found because i was like 6'4 scrawny like 160 pounds soak and wet. so i was like 57 on the list. i would look at 56, 55 all the way up to number one who these players are, what club teams they played for so when we go in a AAU travel circuit, i got to hunt them down. and so that became my mission in high school; is to check off every other person, all those 56 other names, hunt them down and knock them down.
you know, you've got to look at the reality of the situation, like for me it's not you know...you kinda gotta get over yourself its not about you man. like, ok, you feel embarrassed, you are not that important. like get over yourself. like you are worried about how people may perceive you, you're walking around and it's embarrassing because you shot 5 air balls, get over yourself. and then after that, it's ok, well, why did those air balls happen? (snaps)...got it. High school, year before, we played 35 games max week in-between spaced out plenty of time to rest. in the NBA it's back to back to back to back to back to back. i didn't have the legs. you look at the shots, every shot was on line but every shot was short (right), i got to get stronger. i got to train differently. The weight training program that i'm doing i got to tailor it for an 82 games season so that when the playoffs come around, my legs are stronger and that ball gets there. so i'll look at it with rationale and say well,ok, the reason why i shot air balls because my legs aren't there, i go well next year they'll be there. That was it. Done. You got to understand, dedication works the dream man, so I had a routine. I adjusted everything else to fit around my routine you know. I always get to practice really early. My routine is always the same. I'd wake up 4 in the morning and lift weights really early get home at about 6:30 in time to wake up the kids for school and then I'd take the kids to school every morning That's what I do take them to school every morning and after I'd take them to school I'd go to practice. I'd stay late at practice till it's time to go pick up the kids from school or after school activities you know, all that fun stuff. Now, this was why I had to go for a helicopter because you know people started moving down South and the traffic started getting really really bad. Normally I could get down LA in 30 - 40 mins but now I'd miss school plays because I'm sitting in traffic. so I needed to train and remain focused without compromising family time.

So many guys tell stories about my work ethic but you got to understand what really my work ethic was like and how long did i stay  disciplined. well, uhmm...everyday. I mean, since you have 20 years it was an everyday process and trying to figure out strengths and weaknesses, for example, my jumping ability. my vertical was a 40. wasn't a 46 or 45. my hands are big, but they're not massive. you got to firgure out ways to strengthen them so your hands are strong enough to be able to palm a ball and do the things that you need to do. Quickness, i was quick but not insanely quick. i was fast, but not ridiculously fast so i had to rely on skill a lot more, i had to rely on angles a lot more, i had to study the game a lot more but i enjoyed that, though. so like from the time i was... i can remember when i started watching the game, i studied the game and it just never changed.
in 2008 we lost to Boston Celtics in the finals. once you go through your ups and downs, struggle a little bit, taste defeat...I think that makes you a little tougher.