He has given us many valuable lessons over the years.
In 1996, at 5 a.m. before class started at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a lanky Kobe Bryant was taking jump shots until his hands turned numb. This indefatigable work ethic would serve as precedent as he developed a reputation as one of the hardest-working players in the National Basketball Association. At this time, however, no one envisioned this teenager, the son of former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, to blossom into one of the best players to pick up a basketball and arguably the greatest competitor the sport has ever witnessed.
After 20 seasons, five championships, and a Most Valuable Player award and countless other accolades, Kobe Bryant announced Sunday that he will retire at the end of this season. His announcement came in the form of a poem entitled “Dear Basketball,” which recounts his unconditional love for the game that “gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream.”
As a young man thrown into the spotlight right out of high school, Bryant was far from perfect. His sexual assault case in 2003 stained his public image. Moreover, his youthful braggadocio affected his game at times — most notably his four consecutive air balls during game five of the 1997 playoffs against the Utah Jazz.
Yet his story is compelling because Bryant owned his mistakes and pushed to transform his shoddy image into that of a consummate professional. He refused to leave practice until he made at least 400 shots. Demanding perfection at every quotidian detail of the game, Bryant’s technique was second to none during his era.
In an immensely popular sport like basketball, young children look up to superstars like Bryant as role models. Whether you liked him as a person, his craft was undeniably magical. When I was a child and an aspiring basketball player, Bryant was, to use Stuart Scott’s phrase, cooler than the other side of the pillow. Playing outside on my basketball hoop, I imitated his every move. Two dribbles, shot fake, reverse spin and bank shot at the elbow was one of his signature moves that displayed such indelible grace it seemed impossible to replicate.
More than just the lesson of hard work, Bryant’s dedication to basketball imparted another key message: Be yourself unapologetically. Bryant was unconcerned with fitting in. Instead, he let his competitiveness shine through as he sought to push his teammates to their physical and mental limits. When he feuded with fellow superstar Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant shared his feelings unabashedly. And when O’Neal departed from the Lakers, skeptics questioned whether Bryant could lead the team to a championship by himself. Answering the bell, he won two more.
One of the aspects of Bryant’s career we can learn from is his ability to adapt. As his career went on and his body was no longer in peak athletic form, he became smarter about the game. He consulted with several successful people such as Bill Clinton and Jonathan Ive to ask how they have maintained their success. This desire to keep growing mentally has allowed Bryant to prosper at the highest level for so long and should be a lesson that improvement can always be made, no matter the craft. As Bryant once put it, “These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.”
Whether through his prolific scoring displays or taking on the challenge of defending the other team’s best player, Bryant was willing to lay his heart on the line to be a winner. For the past 20 years, we have witnessed determination incarnate on the highest stage. Now, let’s appreciate his last moments while we learn from the lessons he has taught us.
