A Coach's Diary

NBA legend Kobe Bryant was known for having a killer mentality, and he took that killer mentality onto the Redeem Team when he teamed up with Lebron James and the rest of the 2012 USA Basketball team. Here is what Kobe Bryant said about teaming up with Lebron and teaching him how to have a killer mentality: “The main thing LeBron and I discussed was what constitutes a killer mentality. He watched how I approached every single practice, and I constantly challenged him and the rest of the guys. I remember there was one half when we were messing around. I came into the locker room at half-time and asked the guys—in a less PG manner—what in the hell we were doing. In the second half, LeBron responded in a big way—he came out with a truly dominant mindset. And I’ve seen him lead that way ever since.” Every great team has at least one person with a killer mentality. Kobe Bryant was that person on his Lakers teams, and for Team  USA. In his own words, “I always aimed to killed the opposit...

I have always had a love/hate relationship. I need them to call fouls and control the game, but I don't need them calling too many fouls on me or my team. I tell my athletes and parents to never forget that referees are people with human feelings and human emotions. My strategy is to never work for the last call but to always work for the next call. When a referee makes a call that goes against our team and we yell at them or argue with them, will that help or hurt our team get a call when it really matters? That is something to think about any time you engage a referee. Also, it is important to know that every referee sees the game and calls the game differently. Some will let you be more physical, and some call games much tighter. Some don't mind talking to players and coaches, and some are more ready to give talkative players and coaches technicals quicker than others. But learning how to manage and work with referees effectively is an important skill to learn and master. Th...

Like many star players and their coaches, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson had a complex relationship. They had a lot of success together, but it was not without their struggles. They won three championships in a row together, but Phil Jackson wrote that Kobe Bryant was uncoachable, and after losing in the finals to the Detroit Pistons, stopping them from winning four in a row, Phil Jackson left the Lakers. Jackson returned to Kobe and the Lakers, and they won back-to-back championships during their second run together. Kobe said: "It took us until our second stint together to realize how we were perfectly suited for one another. During our first go-together, Phil thought I was uncoachable. He thought I questioned his authority and questioned his plans. He thought I didn't listen. When he came back, he realized that I was just very inquisitive and unafraid to ask questions. He realized that that's how I process information and learn. Once he put his pulse on that, he was more ...

In his book, Mamba Mentality, Kobe Bryant wrote, “A good coach is of utmost importance.” Young Kobe was out to prove himself to the world, and I’m sure he gave his earlier coaches headaches, but as he aged, so did his wisdom, and he spoke highly of and with respect for great coaching. Kobe also wrote this: “Coaches are teachers. Some coaches—lesser coaches—try telling you things. Good coaches, however, teach you how to think and arm you with the fundamental tools necessary to execute properly. Simply put, good coaches make sure you know how to use both hands, how to make proper reads, and how to understand the game. Good coaches tell you where the fish are, and great coaches teach you how to find them. That’s the same at every level. In certain situations, like in the midst of a game, good coaches relay execution information. They point out what specifically is and isn’t working. Based on that and your own feel for the game, you utilize some of that information immediately and you save...

Author Daniel Coyle the author of The Culture Code, one of the best coaching books I have ever read, says, “ The world we live in is a learning contest. The world we live in is not an execution contest, and it’s not a confident contest. The world we live in is a learning contest. What helps you with learning? Continually ask, who else can help us, what else is coming around the corner, and how can we get a little bit better today.” Kobe Bryant was known for being very curious and he tried to learn from everybody. In the middle of a game, he asked Michael Jordan how he shot his fadeaway. Before an all-star game, he asked defensive legend Gary Payton how to play better defense. In the off-season, he asked post player Hakeem Olajuwon to help him with his footwork in the post. If you could help him get better. Kobe would work with you, and he wasn’t afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. In his book, The Mamba Mentality, Kobe wrote: “I asked a ton of questions. I  was curious. I wanted...

One of the most common types of questions that I get from athletes and their parents are, “What should do for training?” Everyone wants to know what kind of workouts they should do to get better. My first and second questions are usually, “What do you do in the games?” and, “What part of your game do you need to work on?” In his book, “The Mamba Mentality,” Kobe Bryant talked about his workout routine: “I would start off short and work on my touch. Always. Always. Always. Get my muscle memory firing. Then, I’d move back, work for a bit, move back again, and repeat the same process. After that, I’d start working on situational looks that I was going to get that night. I’d walk my body through the scouting report, and remind it of things it had done thousands and thousands of times before. I never had a set routine, an ironclad formula that I practiced night after night. I listened to my body and let it inform my warmup, because there are always variables. If I felt the need to shoot ext...

Kobe Bryant was known for his Mamba Mentality. The Mamba Mentality means, "Trying to be the best version of yourself." It means, "Every day, you are trying to become better." One of the pillars of Kobe Bryant's Mamba Mentality is Fearless. Kobe Bryant was asked, " Why is being fearless such an important part of the Mamba Mentality? " He said: "I think the greatest fear that we face is ourselves. It's not anything that is external; I think the greatest fear you face is yourself because we all have dreams, and its very scary sometimes to accept the dream that you have, and it's scarier still to say okay, I want that. It's scary because you're afraid that if you put your heart and soul into it and you fail then 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. Not for anybody else, but for yourself." He was then asked, "When you got to the le...

Kobe Byrant was known for his Mamba Mentality. The Mamba Mentality means, "Trying to be the best version of yourself." It means, "Every day, you are trying to become better." One of the pillars of Kobe Bryant's Mamba Mentality is Relentlessness. Kobe Bryant was asked, "What does relentless mean to you?" He said: Relentless means to be unyielding, never give an inch, and to always go after it, always go after it, always go after it. If there is a challenge that ensues, good - I want to see how I stack up to that - so I go after it and go after it. It's fun because get a chance to compete against opponents and see where you stack up against them. Maybe I'm not good enough today, but that's fine because I'll be good enough the next time I see you. You get a chance to always measure yourself, and it's fun. When he was asked if he was born with this relentlessness or if it was something that he learned over time. He said he had to learn ...

Kobe Bryant was known for his Mamba Mentality. The Mamba Mentality means, "Trying to be the best version of yourself." It means, "Every day, you are trying to become better." One of the pillars of Mamba Mentality is passion. Passion is love in action. It was no secret that Kobe looked up to Michael Jordan. Here is what Jordan said about passion: "The greatest thing about the game of basketball, to me, is the passion; the love that I have for it. Because when you have love for anything, you'll go to the extreme to maintain that love. That's what love does; love drives you to do everything you need to do to maintain that connection. If I didn't have that love for the game of basketball, all of the things that have panned out in my career would have never been achievable. It was truly my love for the game that kept me pushing to be the best basketball player that I can be. To be the best, at anything, you gotta have a certain love for that to overcome ...

Kobe Bryant was asked what Mamba Mentality was. He said: The Mamba Mentality simply means trying to be the best version of yourself. It means every day, you are trying to become better. It is a constant, infinite quest. Always ask questions, and try to get better every single day. Be very observant and constantly look for things to learn from. Life is all about choices. You always have a choice: become the best version of yourself, or don’t. Every choice that you make either helps you come closer to becoming the best version of yourself, or it pushes you further from becoming the best version of yourself. Kobe said, “Ask good questions, ask a lot of questions, and be observant.” Life is a learning contest. Find ways to learn, grow, and improve so that can live out the Mamba Mentality and become the best version of yourself.

Kobe Bryant was asked a simple question, "Who was your greatest teacher growing up?"  Kobe said he had a lot of great teachers, and that included his parents. They instilled in him the importance of imagination and curiosity. They also taught him that he could do whatever he wants, but he has to put in the work to get there. Kobe grew up with the fundamental belief that he could do anything he wanted if he was willing to put in the work. But basketball wasn't always easy for him. When he was 11 years old, he played in a very prominent summer league in Philadelphia called the Sonny Hill League. His father, his uncle, and NBA legends like Wilt Chamberlain and Earl the Pearl Monroe played in this league. He went the entire summer without scoring one point. Kobe said he was terrible and still growing into his body, but he didn't score a single point at all. He said that he remembered crying about it and his father just gave him a hug and said, "Listen, whether you sc...

Do you get nervous? Kobe Bryant was once working with a group of young athletes on a panel for a Project Play summit when he asked one of the athletes, "Do you get nervous?" They said, "A little. Some butterflies, maybe." Kobe replied, "Completely normal. Same thing you get before you play or perform." He then told them a story. He said that before going onto the court to play games, he would wait in the tunnel of the arena and listen to the crowd. He was like a character in a movie, and he was ready to embrace his role as either the hero or the villain - whichever character he needed to be. He was ready to earn the cheers and the boos. Just before jogging onto the floor, if he still felt anxious or nervous, Kobe would mentally transform into "The Black Mamba," emotionless and untouchable. It was like Maximus, the Roman general who later fought as a Gladiator in the arena, rubbing dirt on his hands before going into battle. No opponent or circums...

I am always nervous when I am the new guy. When I join a new team, even as a coach, I get nervous. I start to question myself and ask questions in my mind like, "Will I be good enough," "Will they like me," and "Do I have what it takes?" I have learned about the value of talking to myself instead of listening to myself. When I listen to myself, I hear a lot of negative thoughts, fears, and worries and every reason why I won't be good enough, why they won't like me, and why I don't have what it takes. When I talk to myself, I control the story being told in my head. I can feed myself with the words and encouragement that I need to be successful. CHOOSE TO FEED YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE THOUGHTS AND YOU WILL HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE AND A POSITIVE LIFE Kobe Bryant has some great advice for someone new to a team. He was asked in an interview, "Do you have any advice for somebody joining a new team or for the newest or youngest person on a new te...

To be the best, you have to study the best and compete against the best. Becoming the best is a privilege that you have to earn from hard work and dedication. Kobe Bryant is one of the best to ever play basketball. He made it a goal early to become the best. He then studied the best and he couldn’t wait to compete against the best. In one of his first interviews , Kobe said that he dissected the games of all the greats so that he could take different parts of their game and put them into his game so that he could be a well-rounded athlete. Kobe also knew that ups and downs were a part of the process. He knew that playing in the NBA was going to be a roller coaster full of ups and downs that was going to take a lot of mental and physical toughness, but he was willing to get in there and learn. Life is full of ups and downs, and so is being an athlete. Learn from others and learn from your mistakes. It’s okay to be nervous or to have a little fear, but don’t let nervousness or fear keep ...

On The No Chill podcast with Gilbert Arenas, Chris Paul said that when he first arrived to play with the Houston Rockets, one of the coaches told him,  "One of the things that you are going to have to work on is being able to deal with somebody that doesn't care as much as you care." Chris Paul says that he loves the game and studies the game, so it is hard for him to play with people who don't care about winning and who won't put in the work that it takes to be a winner. Gilbert Arenas said, "Everybody wants to be a winner, but they don't want to deal with what it takes to be a winner. Everybody talks about Mamba Mentality, but they don't like it when it's in your face. Mamba Mentality is ruthless." If you want to have Mamba Mentality, you have to come early, stay late, watch film, and compete. Gilbert also said that a lot of people don't like playing with winners because winners hold you accountable. They will tell you what they like an...

“I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it.”  ―  Kobe Bryant

What Is The ‘Mamba Mentality?’ No matter what happens, come hell or high water, no matter what obstacles you meet, or negativity you may face, or injury you receive, or form of resistance that you encounter, you have an inner belief and an inner confidence that you are going to figure it out and you are going to get this done.   It’s a never die attitude. How Can You Apply The Mamba Mentality? It’s about wanting to be better, and in whatever you do, try to be the best at it.   It doesn’t matter what it is.   If you are doing something, why not try to be great at it.   If you are preparing for a test, or you want to be a great carpenter, or whatever it may be, study every great carpenter that came before you and try to be great at it. Greatness has not limit to industry.