With most athletes, their story can be told by their championships and the teams they played for. An entire lifetime can be boiled down to a stat sheet, and for an obituary you can add the odd quote about friends and family. For most athletes, this is all you need.
Kobe Bryant is not most athletes. My favourite movie trilogy, The Dark Knight Trilogy, has a piece of advice bestowed upon a young Bruce Wayne that Kobe was clearly also given. As a man you are corruptible, but as a symbol you are immortal.
The name Kobe Bryant is nearly as famous as the saying “Mamba Mentality”, which also happens to be the name of his book.
Today marks four years since the passing of the Laker legend.
Kobe embodied a mentality and mindset that would make him an idol even for people who did not care about throwing leather through nylon. This was his signature Mamba Mentality.
If you have never heard of this, then you have never watched a basketball game. It draws on the same principles as Keizan from Japanese philosophy. Continuous improvement. To find ways to improve even the smallest of margins.
Keizan production is what drove the heart of the automotive industry into their new production methods. Mamba mentality is what drives the majority of the NBA.
Kobe has left behind a legacy of working meticulously at your craft to become the best at it.
But there is a side of Kobe that is never talked about, and I believe it is a legacy he would have left behind, potentially bigger than his NBA one had he had the chance to.
After his retirement, Kobe went into story telling, launching his entry into the space with a short film titled “Dear Basketball” which won an academy award.
Kobe was in the process of producing stories for young girls, where they are not rescued by a handsome prince, but instead become masters of their fields.
A man who was deeply involved in his daughters AAU team committed himself to story telling equality.
I wonder how different we would view Kobe had he had the chance to pursue this career, would we still see him as Kobe Bryant the Laker, or would he be known as Kobe Bryant the story teller.
Regardless, the fact remains that Kobe has inspired millions of people in and out of the game. He has inspired countless people to evolve into better versions of themselves.
Kobes impact on the sport can not be measured by a stat sheet. Jerry West, the current logo of the NBA publicly stated that it should be changed to Kobe. NBA and WNBA players have shouted his name after hitting clutch shots in the playoffs.
It will be a long time until we have another player who inspires the way that Kobe did.
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