Establishing a winning culture is crucial in today’s NBA, especially with the amount of teams looking to contend at a high level. When it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant was the ultimate culture builder as he only played to win championships.
That mentality is not for the faint of heart as it can rub teammates the wrong way in practice. But, Bryant viewed it as a way to determine how serious everyone was in terms of trying to win a title.
A teammate during those championship runs was Sasha Vujacic and he recently detailed his battles in practice with Bryant and how it made him better, via ESPN LA:
“I didn’t come to L.A. for the glamour to play for the Lakers and just be a cool guy, I really wanted to win. And that’s how the nickname also came because I was a gym rat, Kobe and I would go with each other, he knows a lot. He was truly my big brother from Day 1. So, when he embraced me, when he welcomed me properly, I knew that there’s a big responsibility also. Our practices were basically like wars. Everything was a battle of a war and you know that’s how we were able to prevail and not many teams can win back-to-back. You know when you watch somebody all your life and then you become teammates, but you guys play the same role, you know your minutes will go down 100%. But, going at each other every single day, he also taught me how to study the game, how to watch the film. So for him, I’m really grateful that I had him for so long and that we were able to bring the best out of each other and he’s always with us, he is with us right now. I refuse to believe that he’s not, his spirit with Gigi and I think purple and gold nation feel that.”
Vujacic explained how once Bryant trusts a teammate, he tries his best to get the best out of them. Clearly that mentoring paid off as he made clutch free throws in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals, but it proved how badly the five-time champion wanted to win:
“He was obsessed with winning, he wanted to be the closest to MJ [Michael Jordan]. I think he accomplished that because in my opinion, MJ and Kobe are on that one mountain that nobody can ever come close, just in my opinion. But, seeing him being there at five o’clock in the morning, I was like damn, I got to wake up and be there at 4 o’clock in the morning. So, it was different things I wanted to outwork him, but it was impossible. But, I was very grateful that he was my big bro and my mentor.”
Bryant’s perception as a competitor is a bit of a mixed bag, but Vujacic laid those to rest by showing how much he cared about developing championship habits with teammates. It’s also a testament to the Slovenian’s desire to be great due to how the Black Mamba pushed him to his limits to get greatness out of him.
Magic Johnson reveals favorite Kobe Bryant moment
Kobe Bryant had countless great moments and games during his 20-year career with the Lakers. But to Magic Johnson, Bryant’s final game in which he scored 60 points stands out above the rest,
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