Kobe Bryant’s new book, “Mamba Mentality: How I play” is a goldmine for Los Angeles Lakers fans and NBA fans in general.
Getting to watch Kobe Bryant for 20 years was a blessing for Los Angeles Lakers fans. Through all of the joy and misery, it was a ride all fans will remember for the rest of their lives. From his dunk over Ben Wallace in 1997 to his unreal 60 point final game, Kobe raised the bar for what it meant to be an all-time Laker great.
The release of Kobe’s new book “Mamba Mentality” covers his entire career, along with never seen images taken by legendary sports photographer Andrew D.Bernstein. Lakers fans get an in-depth look into how the Mamba Mentality came about, and how Kobe maintained this mentality throughout his career.
Pau Gasol writes a beautifully written forward, essentially thanking Kobe for “Changing the course of his career,” and even touching on the subject of Kobe being a difficult teammate saying:
“Over the years, a lot of people have wondered how difficult it must have been to play with Kobe. It really wasn’t. All you had to do was understand where he was coming from, what he was about, and how badly he wanted to win.”
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Phil Jackson contributed as well by writing the introduction, which touched on their rocky relationship at first, and how they learned to get the best out of each other over their 11 years together.
There is page after page of beautiful photo’s in conjunction with Kobe giving a small narrative for each subject covered.
There is the insight into Kobe’s preparation, how he studied different players, and his thoughts on all the failures he had in his career (See his 1997 playoff game against the Utah Jazz for example).
The amount of details he covered to improve his craft is nothing short of astonishing. Kobe says he would read the referee handbook and found this:
“I made a point of reading the referee’s handbook. One of the rules I gleaned from it was that each referee has a designated slot where he is supposed to be on the floor. If the ball, for instance, is in place X, Y, and Z each have an area of the court assigned to them.
When they do that, it creates dead zones, areas on the floor where they can’t see certain things. I learned where those zones were, and I took advantage of them. I would get away with holds, travels and all sorts of minor violations simply because I took time to understand officials limitations.”
This quote establishes just how badly this man wanted to win. Every little thing he could use to his advantage, he would. When Laker fans would watch Kobe go on a scoring rampage, it wasn’t just how many jump shots he would shoot in preparation; it was the positioning of every single person that was on the court.
Kobe touches on defenders who would bother him, players he had trouble guarding, and what he appreciates about individual players from this generation of players. This book is a necessity for anyone who labels themselves as a Laker fan; the book gives everyone a glimpse into the mind of an all-time great who has generally kept these things to himself.
For Laker fans, this book is more than just Kobe describing parts of his career through his own words. This gives fans a chance to revisit some of the greatest moments in Laker history, but most importantly, allows fans to appreciate what Kobe did for the Purple and Gold one more time.