Kobe Bryant is widely regarded as one of the toughest competitors in NBA history, and nothing reflected that better than the amount of training he did. It was often difficult to even understand why he was so motivated that he trained so much more than everyone else. However, on one of the many occasions when he spoke about his “Mamba mentality”, he gave fans an answer. Here’s what he said about it.
“I was on the track at like 4:30 am.
And in the middle of it, I’m thinking to myself, ‘Man, my legs are really tired, they’re really hurting. And then I thought to myself, ‘What would a quitter do? Would they just stop right now?
! Like how does that work? If I just stop right now, what would that feel like?
While the ending may have sounded a little arrogant, if anyone has the right to say it, it’s Kobe Bryant. After all, he was a five-time NBA champion and worked harder than anyone else in the NBA for it. Stories of a player waking up at a ridiculous time only to work harder than the competition are now infamous among fans.
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant had the same trainer
While it may not have been at the same time, both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant trained with legendary trainer Tim Grover.
“Kobe worked out harder. Michael worked out smarter. Kobe wanted to know every single detail [about his workouts]… Michael was like, ‘Hey, I hired you, I trust you. I don’t want this to be my focus. Just, if I question you, make sure you have an answer.”
Many thought Grover liked Bryant because of his similarities to Jordan in both play and mentality. However, as he once explained, there was one striking difference between the way they conducted their affairs.
