Kobe Bryant was one of a few players that possessed the killer instinct

Not many have it. Some would say it is a curse but perhaps it is a gift. Are you born with it? Do you learn it and if so…how? Is it just the desire to be the greatest? How does one attain these powers? Kobe Bryant had it. He knew.

I know it may sound hackneyed, but it is very familiar to Rocky 3 and the whole ‘Eye of the Tiger’ thing. The killer instinct. How many players have we seen that may possess all the talent in the world but lack the killer instinct? The answer is far too many, to be honest.

I often wonder about players such as Kobe Bryant who had that killer instinct ability. It’s sort of like a special power that only certain X-Men have. Jordan had it. Magic and Bird both had it. Tom Brady has it. Jerry Rice and Joe Montana had it. Lemieux, Gretzky, and Messier too. Tyson, Holyfield, Ali, and Marciano.

That competitive ability goes far beyond anything normal or rational. It’s almost like a sort of madness and obsession that many are always chasing and even when they hit their mark, it is not good enough. Perhaps, that is the way to be in order to stay at that high level.

No time to sit and enjoy what you have accomplished when you know deep inside your soul that there is more to go. There are places to be and more work to be done and goals to conquer.

For these special few have no time to sit back and pat themselves on the shoulder or look over at their trophy case while they put their feet up and light a cigar. They are a different breed and therefore they have more to do.

Perhaps it is that behavior that we can all learn something from. The fact that while it is great to have accomplished something, we should still have various goals in mind that we need to do. I think that is what separates the Kobe Bryants, Tom Bradys and Michael Jordans of the world. The need to always have a goal and to set the bar higher than all the rest.

Kobe Bryant was a master of that.

Kobe Bryant seemed to take that page out of Jordan’s book but I think he took it to a new level. His competitive nature was almost not human. It was very terminator or machine-like. When he was plugged in, you couldn’t stop him at all.

Looking back though, I often wonder what type of toll this may have taken on his life. After all, they say that with great power comes great responsibility right? Well, when it comes to achieving certain goals and putting yourself on the road to accomplishing great things, it can take you away from people and things.

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Sometimes it is the ones we love and certain special moments. However, that is what sacrifice is all about though. No one knew that more than Kobe.

From his intense training routines whether in the offseason or during the regular season, he was always preparing and working his ass off. Kobe would sacrifice hitting the clubs with teammates and hanging out with them outside of work to go off and do something to prepare for his journey.

It was almost very Jedi-like, to be honest. The sacrifice for the hard work.  Perhaps it is that which is one of the main things that separates the greats from the regular.

Attitudes such as Kobe’s likely rubbed some the wrong way. Maybe it was jealousy on their part, wishing deep down that they had what he possessed or it could have been disdain for his behavior in not spending enough time with some.

Either way, there were those that felt a certain way about him. We saw the same thing for Jordan too. If you had seen the documentary, ‘The Last Dance’, you will see that Jordan would act in a similar way.

I mentioned Jerry Rice and Joe Montana above for a very good reason. Rice, who by far is one of the greatest athletes of all-time,(The greatest in my opinion) was one of the most intense and disciplined players of all time. He was well known for his intense workout schedule, which many considered brutal.

Joe Montana had that thing that many cannot put their finger on, but it was pure greatness. The ability to stay calm in intense situations, (hence be the name Joe Cool) the ability to make big plays, (the catch) and the ability to lead a comeback.

It was in his DNA and he made it look rather easy. Kobe Bryant was a combination of all of these. You know, looking back, sometimes I wonder if Kobe was raised in a secret laboratory where scientists would do experiments on him and build him into an unstoppable force (very Wolverine-like).

Where does this instinct come from though? Is it something you are born with or can you learn it? Perhaps both. Is it learned from failure? We always heard the famous story of how Jordan was cut from his high school team. Was it that which changed something in him? If it was learned then perhaps it had to do with people that these athletes surrounded themselves with.

Joe and Jerry had the great Bill Walsh. Magic had Pat Riley. Tom Brady had Belichick. Jordan and Kobe both had Phil Jackson and Tex Winters. Plus, Kobe had his father Joe to kind of show him the ropes of NBA life and what it took to be a player in the NBA.

Either way, one thing is certain, not everyone has the killer instinct. We see that more in today’s world of sports than ever when so many talented athletes lack that one thing. Maybe because it’s just too hard? Perhaps because it is both a curse and a gift.

Kobe Bryant was on another level. Had he been a gunslinger in the old west, he would have been one of the deadliest pistolers similar to the great Billy The Kid, Doc Holiday, and Wild Bill Hickok.

When it came time to put an opponent out, no one was better than him. He would turn on that Black Mamba. You could see it. It was in his eyes.