How will he be remembered? As greatness with an edge.
Kobe Bryant played basketball, but he did not play at basketball. He approached it more as a siege operation than a game, with exacting standards and merciless execution.
“He had the name Mamba for a reason,” said Jerry Eaves, the former University of Louisville star who coached in the NBA. “He was trying to destroy you. He went out to compete every night. He took no days off, imposing his will on the game every single night. He wanted to be the most aggressive, the hardest-working player every single night. No question.”
Embracing as his nickname an African species of venomous snake, the NBA legend embodied many of the qualities most highly prized in sports: dedication, drive, instinct, intelligence and extraordinary athleticism.
He could also be demanding and difficult; was once described as “uncoachable” by his longtime Lakers coach, Phil Jackson; and was openly impatient with teammates of lesser abilities, accomplishments and commitment.
“There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals,” Bryant said on a 2015 Showtime special. “If you want to be great at something, there’s a choice you have to make. We all can be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that.
“Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with making that decision.”
Like the mamba, Bryant was not cuddly. His greatness came with an undeniable edge and his reputation still bears the taint of a 2003 sexual assault case that was dropped when Bryant’s accuser refused to testify.
Though the initial eulogies and emotions triggered by Bryant’s sudden death rightly centered on the shocking loss of a cultural icon – an NBA Most Valuable Player, an Academy Award-winning filmmaker – this was not a man who could be captured in a phrase or a snapshot.
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Bryant was complex and contradictory, alternately aloof and charming, multilingual and singularly competitive. Like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, he always appeared to be less interested in making friends than in achieving immortality.
“Quite often, I could feel his hatred,” Jackson told GQ.
“I had a workout with the Lakers, beat all the guards out for the starting position, earned a spot on the team,” Smush Parker once said during an interview with Hard 2 Guard Radio. “Midway through the first season, I tried to at least have a conversation with Kobe Bryant – he is my teammate, he is a co-worker of mine, I see his face every day I go in to work – and I tried to talk with him about football.
“He tells me I can’t talk to him. He tells me I need more accolades under my belt before I come talk to him. He was dead serious.”
To some teammates, Bryant was offputting. To others, he was inspiring. Antawn Jamison had played 14 NBA seasons before he joined the Lakers in 2012. He observed that while other players would be relaxing during postgame flights, Bryant was breaking down film.
“I’ll be watching a movie, he’ll tap me like, ‘Come here,’ ” Jamison told ESPN Radio 710 in Los Angeles. “He’ll dissect plays like, ‘This is what we got to do, me and you got to get this going.’ I mean, this guy eats, sleeps basketball and the only thing he wants to do is win another championship. I’ve never seen anybody as focused, as dedicated as Kobe.”
Less than 24 hours before Bryant’s death, LeBron James surpassed him for third place on the NBA’s career scoring list.
“Seeing him come straight out of high school (to the NBA), he is someone that I used as inspiration,” James said of Bryant. “It was like ‘Wow.’ Seeing a kid, 17 years old, come into the NBA and trying to make an impact on a franchise, I used it as motivation. He helped me before he even knew of me because of what he was able to do.”
What Kobe Bryant was able to do few athletes have approached. Last week marked the 14th anniversary of Bryant’s 81-point game against the Raptors. Ten years later, at age 37, he scored 60 in his final game with the Lakers.
Eaves, who served as an assistant coach with the Nets, Hornets and Cavaliers during Bryant’s career, was asked for a scouting report.
“Good luck,” he said, laughing.