Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryantis an American retired professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the league's all-time regular season scoring and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth23 August 1978
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
We just wanted to tighten them up. They looked too comfortable in the first half. We just wanted to put a little more pressure on them and challenge them a bit.
This is such a challenge for both of us. Phil prepares us so well, and wants us to pay attention to the details. We didn't always do that tonight, but we stayed with the system and found a way.
We needed a challenge like this, ... I think we did a good job keeping our poise when they jumped out to an early lead. Everybody just kind of stayed with it.
He had an incredible game. Believe it or not, he can do this on a consistent basis and the challenge he gets is judging how to pick the defense we are going to have to penetrate.
I'm extremely willful to win, and I respond to challenges. Scoring titles and stuff like that... it sounds, well, I don't care how it sounds - to me, scoring comes easy. It's not a challenge to me to win the scoring title, because I know I can.
I don't just try to score. The challenge is elevating my teammates to be able to win a championship.
It's wonderful for the players. It's a huge challenge and a huge responsibility for us to get our act together, get our butts in gear. Phil isn't going to bail us out because of our mental lapses.
The most important thing, the thing that unites all of us, is that we can INSPIRE and CHALLENGE one another TO BE BETTER.
I mean, it's tough to make the jump, ... So you know, the person's going to be faced with a lot of challenges, some ups and some downs...I can't speak on behalf of other players, but I can only speak on behalf of myself. And in that situation, you know, it was best for me to skip college and go straight to the pros. It worked out well.
I know this city is used to championships, and I am as well. But it's one step at a time, and this is a step in that direction.
I'm proud of us. We came back and played hard. We got into a big hole in the first quarter but we were able to fight back. Late in the fourth quarter, we were able to make a push and give ourselves an opportunity to win the game. Both teams played hard, it's a shame somebody had to lose.
I'm just sick and tired of talking about it. It's been two years. Enough is enough.
It's such a learning curve. Once you start getting it, it usually comes at the end of the season. Everybody is pretty much in rhythm and in tune with one another, and then you start playing better.
It's not going to have any carry-over effect from a mental standpoint or anything like that. Everything's thrown out the window. It's a new season.