COMMENTARY
Published in the January 27, 2020 edition.
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
You want to be the next Kobe? Want something else.
There was, is and will be nobody quite like him.
You want to learn from Kobe? Now we’re talking.
The sudden and beyond tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna yesterday – well it’s a day we will never forget. Basketball fans, sports fans, it doesn’t matter. Everyone knew him, knew what he was about and what he meant to so many.
Kobe Bryant had a unique type of confidence, one that could be felt by opponents and even fans of those opponents.
Watching him in the Finals against the Celtics…It felt like rooting against a larger power. Like this team you were so attached to and believed in. Were they really destined to beat this guy?
There was nothing but respect for Kobe. Boston, Indiana, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Orlando fans – those who all saw him beat their team in the Finals. They didn’t hate him…they feared him.
That’s why Celtics fans chanted his name and stayed long after the final whistle to thank him during his last game at the Boston Garden in December of 2015. Sitting courtside was his wife Vanessa and three daughters, Gianna, Bianka and Capri. Kobe wanted them to see it. He said his rivalry with the Celtics changed the way he played, the way he trained and the way he viewed leadership.
So no, I wouldn’t advise trying to replicate him in every way. Instead, replicate his passion. Try to pull pieces of his mentality.
In sports today, especially at the high school level, kids are rarely encouraged or pushed to be their very best.
I mean, look, being driven and downright obsessed with your craft means other parts of your life might suffer. Balance is important and in many cases a choice. Kobe somehow mastered both.
He wanted to be the best. Not like you or I would like to be happy or successful. He had to be the best basketball player of all time. And that’s not a mentality we should be discouraging in sports.
I can’t think about Kobe without thinking of Arlington’s Pat Connaughton. Connaughton wearing 24 at the Prep, Notre Dame and now the Milwaukee Bucks – that’s not an accident.
Kobe taught him there was a way to earn his dreams. A kid from our neck of the woods playing D1 basketball? That’s a stretch. The NBA? Get real.
Pat had zero Power Five conference offers until the summer going into his senior year. He made a deal with his parents: instead of working a summer job, let me work out; I’ll treat it like a job and earn a scholarship. And he did. That summer job would help him accomplish goals that nobody really knew or would ever believe at that time. When he told me he got offers from Mike Brey at Notre Dame and Ben Howland at UCLA among multiple others, he said it with a serious, Mamba-mentality, no BS look. Before that day, I sometimes wondered if he could hack it at Northeastern.
Wth that Mamba mentality, that belief, drive and dedication, he accomplished and is still accomplishing whatever he wants to.
You’d have a hard time finding someone in the NBA who wasn’t inspired by 8 or 24. That inspiration was felt by an unimaginable amount of people.
For some, finding that passion is the hardest part. But if and when you do, take some of that Mamba mentality with you. It’s confidence, sure, but more importantly an indomitable will to succeed, and, yes, to be the best. Maybe you won’t be. Maybe you’ll be your best. There are very few who can really see what that looks like. Kobe was one of them.
Kobe once said, “Being the best you is an infinite quest. The greatest fear you face is yourself. We all have dreams and it’s very scary sometimes to accept the dream that you have and scarier still to say, ‘Ok, I want that.’ You’re afraid, if you put your heart and soul into it and fail, how are you going to feel about yourself? Being fearless means putting yourself out there and going for it. No matter what, go for it.”
The hardest part of the day was thinking about his family. About Gianna and her limitless potential. About the part of his life that Kobe was dedicating himself too.
Jerry West, who drafted and watched him evolve from a teenaged force of nature to a living legend, said what brought him the most joy wasn’t the five rings, seven conference championships or countless trophies.
“The thing that brought me great joy was to watch him wth his wife and his kids,” said West last night.
“It was truly inspiring.”
Let there be no doubt, Kobe Bryant didn’t just want to be a good dad. He wanted to be the best.
You can do the same.
Be the best teammate, the best daughter, the best big brother you can be. Pour your soul into your passions; challenge your mindset. You might be surprised the effect it can have.
“Hard work, dedication and an enormous desire to succeed,” said West when asked what life lessons people could learn from Kobe. “He should be an inspiration to all.”