At the age of 14, Kobe suddenly realized that he was a lonely walker on the way to the peak of basketball.
It is not difficult for him to reach this conclusion, because his investment in this sport has made his teammates, friends and even his family feel panic. Many people avoid him as if his obsession is an infectious disease. This obsession began when he was a child in Philadelphia. His two sisters, Salia and Saya, were "suffering". Later, he moved to Italy with his father. At the age of eight, he became more immersed in foreign countries. In your own world. By the time he reads his senior year at Raul Merion High School in Philadelphia, Kobe is no longer content to just beat his opponents, he needs to transcend himself.
On the court, Kobe began to "humiliate" opponents. Any ball that can be dunked will never lay up. In the face of opponents whose size and age do not match him, he has no fear and just wants to convince his opponents. In the face of other people's warnings or hostile eyes, Kobe has only a simple sentence: "I am alone on this road."
Kobe came to the Lakers in 1996, and his teammates soon discovered that this seemingly arrogant young man, facing each round of offense and defense, seemed to be facing the last round of his career. When they told Kobe that he was too serious about basketball, Kobe was astonished at how they thought so. So, teammates began to call him "Showboat", Kobe was puzzled, so he went to find his then general manager Jerry West.
Facing this young child, West explained to him that the so-called "show boat" refers to the players who did not play in the correct way. Then West just said, "Don't try to do too much." West didn't blame Kobe because he couldn't do it. "When it comes to being out of step with my teammates, why didn't I," West recalled.
Set the time back to the summer of 1997, when Bryant was sweating at a gym in Venice Beach, Los Angeles's West End, and he hoped to make his young body look like an adult as soon as possible. Just as he held a kettlebell over his shoulder and kept his balance, his cell phone suddenly rang. Originally Kobe wanted to transfer the call to voicemail, but he finally picked it up.
"Hi, this is Michael," someone said over the phone.
"Which Michael?"
"Michael Jackson."
It's unbelievable that Kobe has never spoken to Michael Jackson before. At first Kobe felt that the sound of the phone was slightly different from the "king of pop" in his impression, slightly lower and gentler. But there is no doubt that it was Michael Jackson who spoke on the other end of the phone. "He really shocked me," Bryant recalled. "I later started to wonder if the call came in."
Jackson was a hardcore basketball fan, and also noticed Kobe, who was a fledgling player at the time. So, he called Kobe specifically, hoping to give him some suggestions. "Stick what you do," Jackson said to Kobe. "Don't go back to the community of most people, don't become mediocre just like everyone else. Don't lower your requirements."
The conversation between the two lasted less than 15 minutes, but the two felt quite close. Jackson knows the NBA very well, and Kobe is also a fan of Jackson. As a result, "mystery" Kobe kept asking: "Who was influenced by your early music?" "How did you write" Thriller? "" "What drove you to buy the Beatles album At the end of the call, Jackson sent an invitation to Bryant, asking him to come to his "Neverland Ranch", how could 18-year-old Bryant miss this opportunity.
Speaking of "Dream Manor", it was a two and a half hour drive from where Bryant was living. Kobe apparently miscalculated this distance, so when it arrived, the fuel tank was almost empty. Knowing this, Jackson made him worry, because there is a private gas station here. In addition, there are parks, roller coasters, and a zoo with camels, elephants, and giraffes.
Later, the two came to Jackson's French Norman-style residence and had a meal together. The main course is marinated chicken and organic vegetables. "He told me at the time: 'This (basketball) is what you love and your passion.'" Kobe recalled. "He also told me: 'I know what it means to be different. Embrace that feeling. '"
After the meal, Jackson gave Kobe a gift, a novel called "The Seagull Jonathan", which tells about an unwilling mediocre seagull. Then they went to Jackson's private theater and watched an old movie. During that time, Jackson also told Kobe a lot of behind-the-scenes stories about his production of music, and Kobe continued to have problems. "You have to learn from all those who have made great achievements," Jackson told Kobe. "You have to learn what makes them so successful, and what makes them unsuccessful."
When driving home in the evening, Kobe's car still contained a lot of Jackson's gifts-several old movies recommended by Jackson: "An American in Paris", "Song in the Rain" and "Farewell My Concubine". In addition, there is an additional reading task: Napoleon Hill's "Positive Mind Power". But for Kobe, in addition to these gifts and fond memories of his trip, what is more important is that he received an "invitation letter", one that can continue to stick to himself and move towards the NBA peak. Invitation.
For all talented players, Kobe is like a "thief." He "steals" Oscar Robertson's fake moves, Jerry West's quick shots, Elgin Baylor's footsteps, and more. But perhaps the most important thing for Kobe was that early in his career, he learned Michael Jordan's signature kickback jumper.
It was December 17, 1997, the second year of Kobe's career. In the away game with the Bulls, the Lakers suffered a fiasco of 83 to 104. However, Kobe played off the bench for 29 minutes and scored 33 points. His score alone was the same as the Lakers' five starters. After that game, Jordan, who is 35 years old, still has months to find Kobe and said to him, "If you need anything, call me."
At this point, a few months ago, Michael Jackson's suggestion came to Kobe's mind, so Kobe asked Jordan about the back-up jumper. Bryant asked him how he decided on his shot and how important it was to mislead his opponent when creating shot space.
"I think Michael saw some of him in me at the time," Kobe recalled afterwards. "He realized we were a kind of person."
Due to labor disputes, the 1998-99 season was delayed for a long time. And that just gives Kobe more time so he can contact Jordan again. This time, Kobe's question to Jordan is how to better position himself against players taller than him, such as Sprewell and Lichmond. Jordan is also tempting to teach Kobe how to use his body to jam opponents, how to force them to the weak side of defense, and how to make them mistakenly think that the defensive line is blocked.
"It's all very basic stuff," Bryant said. "Obviously he learned from the great Dean Smith when he played in North Carolina. I have never had that experience before, so I talked to MJ. These are to me like a college education, and at a higher level. "
In the years since, the two have never ceased contact. Kobe asked Jordan questions about all aspects of the basketball court. "He's like a person in a tunnel. All he has in mind is how to win. He is completely ignored by others," Jordan said of Kobe. "You may not like Kobe, but you know Kobe doesn't care at all. "
A few years later, in the summer of 2000, Bryant finally won the first championship of his career, and from then on, he and his teammate O'Neal started a "dark battle". Kobe read a book by Russell that year called Second Gust. Kobe has marked many places on race, teamwork, and coaching philosophy. He later recommended the book to Michael Jackson. At the time, the two kept the frequency of each person talking at least once.
It was also that summer that Bryant and Bill Russell also made several phone calls. In the conversation, Bryant had a new understanding of the story between Russell and Chamberlain. Although Russell and Chamberlain are a pair of rivals on the field, in fact they are personally good. Russell also revealed to Kobe that he sometimes intentionally let Chamberlain score.
"Bill doesn't want to 'activate' Wilt (Chamberlain) on the court," Bryant said. "He felt that if he defended Wilt too well, Wilt would see it as a challenge. Will Te will destroy Bill because he is too strong and tall. So Bill will let Wilt score for a while, so he will be satisfied, and Bill will use it to control him. "
After listening to this paragraph, Kobe brightened. "I thought: What tactics and techniques are too bad, I want to try this trick." Of course, Bryant did not "name" which NBA player he used this trick, but his former teammates and Coaches have revealed several names, including McGrady and young James. In response, Kobe responded: "I will neither admit nor deny."
From 2000 to 2002, the Lakers achieved three consecutive championships. At the age of 23, Bryant stood on top of the NBA. During the same period, Michael Jackson released his 10th music album in 2001, selling 10 million copies. What the two don't know is that they will soon encounter a similar situation.
In 2003, the Lakers lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. Almost a month later, Kobe went to Eagle County, Colorado, to undergo shoulder surgery. There, however, he was arrested by a 19-year-old hotel staff member for sexual assault. Five months later, Michael Jackson also received allegations of child abuse. For a while, both idols were in crisis. "We had little contact during that time," Kobe said. "Because we all faced lawsuits."
However, the two have different attitudes towards the crisis. After that incident, Michael Jackson did not return to his former style, but Kobe was completely different. His return began by giving himself the nickname "Black Mamba". "One of the reasons I admire Kobe the most is that he is able to turn negative things into positive things," Jordan said. "He changed his life at that time, allowing himself to continue to participate in the game to ensure that he would not Because an accident was completely characterized. "
In 2005, the Lakers invited Jabbar to Skyhook. Originally, the Lakers invited the legendary center to let him coach rookie center Andrew Bynum, but the person who surrounds him every day is Kobe. Just like when Jackson received a call for the first time, Kobe became a "curious baby" in front of Jabbar-how did you cross two completely different times, Oscar Robertson and "Magic" Johnson? When you played for the Bucks, how did you win a 20-game winning streak and win the championship in the 1970-71 season?
When Jabbar played, he was notoriously inaccessible, but this did not affect Kobe in the slightest. "Karim (Jabbar) is a somewhat detached person," Bryant said. "By comparison, Michael should be a bastard, because he once made Steve Cole cry. But I don't care about that, after all, I have made others cry. "
Kobe made his teammate cry, which happened in the 2004-05 season. He elbowed Sasha Vujacic in training. Many people have heard about this, but what people don't know is that Kobe later called Jordan to ask Jordan's opinion. Kobe didn't know if he was going too far, but Jordan told him, "Sometimes you have to be a bastard. Sometimes your teammates will hate you, but you look at my teammates. They-Luke Langley, Steve Cole, Jade Butchler-they all have won several championships. So I'm pretty sure they will understand. "
Kobe's teammates may understand Kobe when the team wins the championship in 2009. What makes Kobe even more happy is that after winning the championship, he received a call from Michael Jackson's mother, Catherine. On the phone, Catherine conveyed her son's congratulations to Kobe. At that time, Kobe and Michael Jackson had not been in contact for 6 years, but that time Catherine told him that Jackson was planning to "come back".
"He was planning and was going to rehearse at the Forum Arena," Bryant said. "We have talked about this topic before, and we want to see how each other trains and prepares for it."
It is a pity that Bryant did not see this scene. Just a few days after receiving the call, he saw Michael Jackson's death on television. "Michael Jackson is probably the biggest mentor I've ever met," Kobe said. "The call he gave me that year really changed my life. He's not ordinary at all, like most geniuses same."
However, Bryant did not stop. Because of his age and explosive power decline, he took the initiative to contact "Big Dream" Olajuwon to learn low-post skills and footsteps; later, he also called "Big Bird" Bird and asked He's about pre-match preparations and off-season training. This search did not stop completely until 2016. However, after retiring, Kobe's role has changed from a blocked seeker to a role visited and consulted by a new generation of players, such as LeBron, Anthony Davis, Westbrook, Durant, and Irving. Both have asked about Kobe, and Kobe has told them: asking questions is one thing, putting what you have learned into practice is another.
Sometimes, Bryant will also say that he himself can't believe his journey all the way-how an 8-year-old in Italy has achieved such unforgettable results in the NBA. At that time, he had listened to Michael Jackson's "Shudder" over and over again in the night. "Then, when I was 18, Michael Jackson became my mentor," Bryant said. "After that, Michael Jordan told me: 'Call me if you need anything.' These are all Is it true? I can't even dream of it. "
With that in mind, Kobe also changed.
"I've never been alone," Bryant said. "I have a basketball companion."