Kobe Bryant

Not now, no. Well, when I was playing. When you were playing. Yeah. So when I was playing, what I would do is study the film, but study our younger players.

and see what areas do they need to develop in and how can I help them develop? I mean, that was the big challenge is you move from, you know, being the single dominant player to understanding, okay, I have to help these other guys.

and see what areas do they need to develop in and how can I help them develop? I mean, that was the big challenge is you move from, you know, being the single dominant player to understanding, okay, I have to help these other guys.

The challenge for me was always... compassion and empathy. Cause you're like, guys, let's go get results. Shut up. Don't complain. Right. I want to hear your whining. I don't want to hear it. Don't tell me how rough the water is. Just bring the boat in. You know, I don't, I don't want to hear it, you know? And it's, it's understanding like, okay, these guys have lives outside of here.

The challenge for me was always... compassion and empathy. Cause you're like, guys, let's go get results. Shut up. Don't complain. Right. I want to hear your whining. I don't want to hear it. Don't tell me how rough the water is. Just bring the boat in. You know, I don't, I don't want to hear it, you know? And it's, it's understanding like, okay, these guys have lives outside of here.

They have other things happening to them that may be affecting the way that they're practicing or the way that they're performing. And it was hard for me to understand that because nothing bothered me. Anything personal, you know, never fazed me when I played. You compartmentalized it. Very well. So I couldn't understand how my teammates couldn't do that either.

They have other things happening to them that may be affecting the way that they're practicing or the way that they're performing. And it was hard for me to understand that because nothing bothered me. Anything personal, you know, never fazed me when I played. You compartmentalized it. Very well. So I couldn't understand how my teammates couldn't do that either.

So I had to really work on that aspect of it. That's hard. Yeah, it is.

So I had to really work on that aspect of it. That's hard. Yeah, it is.

Yeah, so I think about 2009, things started changing for me. I started... really making a conscious effort to better understand. And that doesn't mean you have compassion and empathy, so you go soft on them. It's more like you put yourself to the side and you put yourself in their shoes and understand what they're feeling.

Yeah, so I think about 2009, things started changing for me. I started... really making a conscious effort to better understand. And that doesn't mean you have compassion and empathy, so you go soft on them. It's more like you put yourself to the side and you put yourself in their shoes and understand what they're feeling.

And then you have to make certain decisions of, okay, what buttons do I need to push for this player to get them to the next level? So it's never, it's not sit around and it's all happy-go-lucky type of thing. Your leader, your job is to get the best out of them. even if they may not like it at that time.

And then you have to make certain decisions of, okay, what buttons do I need to push for this player to get them to the next level? So it's never, it's not sit around and it's all happy-go-lucky type of thing. Your leader, your job is to get the best out of them. even if they may not like it at that time.

Honestly, it sounds... May sound a little shallow, but I got to say beating the Celtics in game seven. That's what I'm most proud of. Why? Because it was the hardest. You know, you're playing with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen. And, you know, there's myself, Powell, and players that other teams didn't want. And, you know, how do we figure out as a group what to do?

Honestly, it sounds... May sound a little shallow, but I got to say beating the Celtics in game seven. That's what I'm most proud of. Why? Because it was the hardest. You know, you're playing with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen. And, you know, there's myself, Powell, and players that other teams didn't want. And, you know, how do we figure out as a group what to do?

And the reason why I love that series so much is that we went down three games to two against Boston. And now you got two games coming home. I remember sitting in the locker room and they beat the crap out of us to that game. So we're sitting in the locker room and it's really, really quiet. I'm sitting there looking around and we just lost the Celtics in 08. So this is like revenge. Right.

And the reason why I love that series so much is that we went down three games to two against Boston. And now you got two games coming home. I remember sitting in the locker room and they beat the crap out of us to that game. So we're sitting in the locker room and it's really, really quiet. I'm sitting there looking around and we just lost the Celtics in 08. So this is like revenge. Right.

And they're kicking our butt again. Right. So I sit around. I just started laughing. I started laughing and then I remember Derrick Fisher looked at me like, and Lamar looked at me and goes, what is funny? I said, dude, they beat the crap out of us. They just beat the crap out. I said, I'm missing the part where that's funny.

And they're kicking our butt again. Right. So I sit around. I just started laughing. I started laughing and then I remember Derrick Fisher looked at me like, and Lamar looked at me and goes, what is funny? I said, dude, they beat the crap out of us. They just beat the crap out. I said, I'm missing the part where that's funny.

I said, man, listen, if you start this season and they say, you know, all you have to do is win two games at home and you're NBA champ, would you take that? Yeah. Right. That's all we got to do. Yeah. Go home, win two. We're NBA champions. All we got to do is win two games in a row. That's it. We'll take care of the first game. And I promise you, they're not winning game seven on our home floor.