Mamba Mentality Book by Kobe Bryant
Now if prominent names such as Kobe Bryant or a Peyton Manning or a Tom Brady do not catch your interest, then you are probably not an American sports enthusiast, or you hate sports.
But wait, maybe hate is a strong word. I don’t think anyone can afford to hate basketball!
If you do, the pleasure is all mine to introduce you to one of America’s greatest basketball star, Kobe Bryant. Yes, that is his real name. However, ballers and all budding basketball stars perhaps know him as ‘The Black Mamba’.
Whether you choose to love him or resent him, the retired baller’s talent is not something that is up for discussion. While you can argue that the Lakers icon is not the best that has ever lived, you can’t fail to recognize that he is the most competitive to ever exist.
With a huge following, Kobe Bryant found a way to communicate with all his die-hard fans and young upcoming ballers through art. ‘The Mamba Mentality; How I Play’ was his first book to grace our bookshelves.
In this bestseller, he jogs us down the memory lane through his career. He gives more attention to the ‘behind-the-scenes’ moments that are not in the limelight and avoids the victorious and famous games. According to him, he enjoys the former more.
The lesson to the readers is that there is more than meets the eye. Stories of sheer hard work that are never told. Victory never just happens! The book is a must-read for all enthusiasts of the game. I promise you won’t regret sharing from his pot of wisdom.
A General overview of the book
Although the structure may not look appealing to general bibliophiles, it will send a chill down the spine of all hardcore basketball fans and strictly speaking, Lakers fans who come across it.
It is a memoir that is spiced up with legendary photographs taken by the one and only Andrew D. Bernstein (he is known to many as a devout and official Lakers photographer).
Bryant meticulously gives an impression of how basketball is a craft, skill, and a process. Besides, it also gives an informed perspective of how he approached life.
Throughout the text, he indulges the readers in what he believes are the variants that make a good player. This includes preparation for the game, focus, competitiveness, commitment, and precision in paying attention to even little details.
He shares his knowledge and expertise on the various matters touching on the game. It’s impressive how he shares memories he had with his teammates, coaches, and opponents.
It is a good chance to get to know other NBA players that you have not yet heard about.
About the ‘Mamba Mentality’
According to the baller, the ‘Mamba Mentality’ started as just a mere hashtag idea that came to his mind before it grew into something big that people in the game embraced.
As competitive as Bryant could get, it appears that the Mamba Mentality is what kept him moving. He describes it as the greatest mantra that any competitive person needs to remember.
Further, he states that the Mamba Mentality requires one to trust the process and believe in his hard work when it matters the most. Put differently, it requires one to give laser-sharp focus and ultimate dedication to everything that is achieving.
As such, it is a mindset that is popular among most if not all athletes as well as non-athletes. But did you know that the Mamba Mentality exists even beyond the court and sports in general?
Even after retiring from basketball, he applied the Mamba Mentality to all the goals he had set to achieve. A point in case would be when he embraced a new team that formed part of the ‘Granity Studios’, his new content studio.
They all employed the Mamba Mentality each day and it helped them to generate fresh content.
Let’s talk about preparation and dedication from Bryant’s perspective
When it comes to preparedness and commitment, Kobe is a leading authority. I mean, his dedication to being his absolute best is just unparalleled.
You ever hit the gym for three hours doing some cardio and when you come out sweating you feel like you have made it in life? Not so fast! But I can’t blame you, I would too.
Kobe’s measure of dedication is out of this world. Reportedly, he would get to the gym at 3 a.m. each day before everyone else and that gave him an edge over the rest. He would grind and make sure he completes a thousand shots a day.
Preparation is another prominent subject that ‘The Black Mamba’ addresses in his memoir. It is pretty much important to mention that he emphasized the mental aspect of the game just as much as he did the physical aspect.
To him, developing a Mamba Mentality that he was going to score against anyone and everyone who was guarding him worked just perfectly fine. In other words, therefore, he had so much faith in confidence.
The difference between Bryant as a newbie or a rookie, and Bryant as a successful baller was confidence. In his words, successful players conquer both mental and physical games.
Where does he strike the balance between hard work and talent?
In the words of Bryant, hard-work weighs much more than talent every single time. He points to how he put in grit in his morning workout routine and always tried to do more than the next person.
This hard work eventually culminated in trusting all the preparation he had done when the time was due to show the world what he got.
Without the hard work, he believes you will be allowing fate to control your destiny, something he couldn’t bow to.
The most mind-blowing part is when he says that you have to truly care about something if you want to be great at it.
Bryant thinks it’s totally fine if you want to be great yet you’re unwilling to make the sacrifices that come with greatness since, at the end of the day, greatness is never meant for everybody.