Kobe Bryant Knuckleheads Podcast

The Knuckleheads Podcast is hosted by Quenton Richardson and Darrius Miles. they invite special guests, high-profile athletes, musicians and entertainers to get brutally honest about everything from current events to untold stories from the golden era of sports and culture. Named for the on-court celebration they made wildly popular, this unfiltered, hilarious and surprising podcast is like playing NBA 2K with no fouls.

They recently had Kobe Bryant on and it was a great interview, where he talked about everything from his first years in the league to his new book.

On Coming To An Already Established Team

It was good for me to come in and play with so many all-stars; iron sharpens iron.  I had to do a lot and I had to be perfect just to get on the floor.

Every day at practice has got to be a war because I have to prove that I deserve to be here and that I deserve to play.  Every play matters.

Superheros

In your game, you have weapons.  I used to call us superheroes.  When you put your Jersey on, you have special moves.  Every athlete has a category of weapons.  Darrius Miles

The Most Important Shot in Basketball

The shot that really matters is the pull-up shot.  It all comes back to that.  You can do all these moves beforehand, but they don't matter.  Eventually, you are going to get to a spot where you have to raise up and shoot.  So doing that shot 1000's of times got me so comfortable shooting that shot that I could shoot that shot at any time.  It becomes auto-pilot.  So no matter what happens before, whether it is a jab step, a crossover, or a double, it doesn't matter because when I get to that spot and I raise up and shoot, because I've done it thousands of times, it's in the bottom of the barrel.  So it all comes down to that shot.  Kobe Bryant

What Clicked for You to Become the Baddest Man on the Planet?

I had to get stronger.  The air balls in Utah showed me that I had to get stronger.  The season wears you down.  Look at Mike (Jordan) and look at Mike's physique.  He's strong.  Looking at other guys around the league and they're not.  Latrell Sprewell is a great players, but he's not strong.  Mitch Richmond has a natural base to him, but I can tell that he's not lifting every day.  Mike is.  Scottie is.  Those guys have 4-5 champions by now.  I need to do THAT.  So that's why I started lifting and I started getting stronger, and stronger, and stronger and stronger.  That was the adjustment that I made.  I had the fundamentals and I had the skill.  I learned some things technique-wise, but then my physical abilities caught up with my skills.

Why the Triangle is so Dangerous

What makes the triangle offense so deadly is that it gives you a structure, but within that structure, you have complete freedom.  Even the defensively you know the sequence that we are executing, we have counters and we all know them.  It's hard to beat that.  This helps you gameplan.  A lot of players today play accidental basketball.  It's all penetrate and kick and you may make the shot and you may not.  You have no idea who is going to be open.  Its accidental basketball and we played basketball with purpose.  It's playing the sequences and understanding what the defense is going to do against it is what makes it dangerous.  

When Your Kids Play The Same Sport That You Love

My kids can do anything, anything that you want to do and I'm going to support it.  But when you choose the one thing that I fell in love with, it's a special, special thing.  It's like, 'Baby, you love this?'  I will give you everything you need.  - Darius Miles

It's exciting because you get a chance to go back and go through the basics all over again.  I write practice plans every day.  This is a 6-year plan and this is only year 2, so you can patiently teach them every little aspect.  Teach them how to be patient.  Teach them how to use screens.  Teach them how to anticipate on defense.  Balance.  All of those little things.  Its awesome man, it's awesome.  

On Writing Books for Children

I wanted to create something that will help children feel important.  A lot of times, in that children's space they dumb things down and dumb the materials down because we think that they won't know the difference.  But I feel that if we create something that is high in value, the kids will know that they are cared for and that they matter.  

The story itself is about teaching kids how they can handle the inner monologue and the emotional things that we experience.  This is why it had to be tennis because tennis is such an emotional sport.  In tennis, you are dealing with yourself, the elements, and the person across the net that is trying to beat you.  You have to have those inner conversations and navigate those while competing with somebody that is across the net.

Inspiration drives the world.  When looking at the kingdoms and the worlds that we create, inspiration is what decides who is going to be the ruler of these particular worlds.  Then how do you inspire?  You can inspire in a myriad of different ways.  You can inspire through love, through fear, hatred; there are a lot of ways to inspire.  How are the athletes of the world using their platform to inspire?

How Do You Bounce Back From Injury
It's a tedious process and you can't look at the top of the mountain because it is so daunting.  Instead, just choose to focus on one step at a time, and before you know it, you are at the top again.  Just focus on the next thing, focus on the next thing, focus on the next thing.  Also, time flies.  When you are in the moment and dealing with a 9-month injury/recovery, you think, "I can't do that."  But 12 months goes by and you are going to wish that you did because it goes by like that.  So, that has always been my approach - 1 day at a time, 1 day at a time, 1 day at a time.  And I didn't want an injury to dictate when I retire; I wanted to control that.