Driven, obsessed: Kobe Bryant's life was defined by hard work | CBC Sports (2024)

Tim Reynolds · The Associated Press

· Posted: Jan 27, 2020 1:53 AM EST | Last Updated: January 27, 2020

Even in retirement, Kobe Bryant found no substitute for hard work.

And he never stopped. Basketball was his obsession for 20 years in the NBA. Storytelling was the obsession for the rest of his life.

But the pain was obvious elsewhere: soccer's Neymar held up a "24" with his fingers after scoring a goal for Paris Saint-Germain, and marquees at the Super Bowl in Miami were lit up in the Lakers' colours of purple and gold as a tribute.

WATCH | Kobe Bryant's video tribute from his final game:

The elite ones, the ones like James and Leonard and Neymar, were all like Bryant. Driven. Obsessed with their craft. Those are the sort of people Bryant enjoyed most. He didn't have much patience for anything else.

Teammates were never immune from his criticism; not even Shaquille O'Neal, a fellow all-time NBA great, could avoid clashes with Bryant. O'Neal was half-a-foot taller and probably an easy 100 pounds heavier than Bryant. Didn't matter. Bryant wanted to fight one day in practice, so they fought.

His toughness was legendary; Bryant blew out his Achilles on a play in 2013 where he'd been fouled and made the two free throws knowing that his season would be over a few seconds later. It was against Golden State; the Lakers trailed at the time, and Bryant — who hyperextended a knee in that same game and played through it because the game was so important in the playoff race — swished both shots. "We were down two. Had to tie the game first," Bryant said years later, when asked why he stayed in the game.

His commitment was legendary; there was a game in 2011 in Miami where the Lakers lost by six, and Bryant was so displeased with how he played that he went back onto the court for 90 minutes of uninterrupted shooting that went on until after midnight. His teammates were on Miami Beach for dinner. Bryant was working instead. "It's my job," Bryant said.

His swagger was legendary; during the FIBA Americas tournament in 2007, Bryant was less-than-impressed with how Brazil thought it had a chance to beat Team USA. So, he tasked himself with guarding Leandro Barbosa, who until that point had been the leading scorer in the tournament. With Bryant blanketing him — making it difficult for him to even dribble at times — Barbosa made one shot all night. The Americans won by 37. "Looking at a great white shark is one thing," Bryant told teammates, "but jumping into the pool with one is another thing."

WATCH | Kobe Bryant's video tribute from his final game:

He played in Los Angeles, but he was a star everywhere. Everywhere. At the Basketball World Cup in China this past summer, Bryant was on the court for a game during the medal round. He said a few words in Mandarin and the fans in Beijing screamed in more delight than they had for the guy who had taken the floor just before Bryant, a fellow by name of Yao Ming.

He was as driven in his storytelling life as he was in his playing days. Kobe, Inc. wasn't just a cool name. It was his world. He wanted to inspire kids through books that combined the worlds of sports and fantasy. He was toying with the idea of taking his stories to Broadway. He won an Oscar for "Dear Basketball," a short animated film in 2018 that had been converted from a poem that he penned when he decided it was time to retire from playing the game. He had a podcast for kids and families, not with him blathering on about whatever he wanted to talk about but with characters talking about how to be a good teammate. He had a franchise of shows called Detail, where he broke down the nuances of basketball and had other huge names from other sports do the same thing.

He wasn't kidding around when talking to his staff on April 14, 2016. Kobe Bryant still had a lot of work to do.

He was just getting started. And now he's gone.

The tributes will continue, though eventually fade away. The legacy will be forever.

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