When the Los Angeles Lakers traded to acquire Kobe Bryant on draft night in 1996, there was a considerable amount of risk, as Bryant was coming out of high school and Shaquille O’Neal was on the roster looking to win championships.
What made the Philadelphia native different is that he was not afraid of anything, no moment became too bright for him. Former teammate Nick Van Exel detailed Bryant’s mentality during his rookie season, revealing he wanted to play Chicago Bulls legend against Michael Jordan.
“Man, I don’t know if it was a wild moment but I just know that Kobe coming in as an 18-year-old, he didn’t have that awe factor that I know I had as a player when I saw MJ for the first time. I was like, ‘Damn, I’m on the court with f—ing Michael Jordan.’ That was just like no other player, like I’ve played with Magic (Johnson), like a bunch of great players, Hall of Famers,” Van Exel said on To The Baha.
“Just that one dude that had me like I’m staring at dude, right? And Kobe was like, ‘I’m going at this dude.’ And when I tell you his confidence and swag was through the roof like when we played Chicago that first time, most guys on the bench are like this just chillin’. And Kobe used to be on that motherf—er like this just anxious to get into the game. Just sitting up there rocking and no fear. So, there wasn’t really an awe moment between those two, it was just Kobe, I ain’t never seeing anything like it, dog. He had no fear of anybody and one person that you probably be a little imitated by probably would have been Black Cat, not for Kobe.”
What made Bryant a one-of-one player was his mentality as he always stayed confident in his ability as a basketball player. Even after multiple airballs in an elimination game against the Utah Jazz, Van Exel said the then-rookie wasn’t discouraged at all.
“People don’t realize he walked out of there with his head up,” Van Exel continued. “He shot those two airballs, he walked out of there with his head up. Shaq went up, hugged him and he was like, ‘I’m going to remember that.’ It just made him better, he went to the gym when he got back to L.A. that night just started shooting 3s. So, his mentality was stupid as a kid, he’s 18, 19-years-old. You don’t see that, you don’t see that.”
Fearless competitors are immortalized in the NBA with Jordan and Bryant being two of the most notable examples. Rookies typically take time to mature, develop their professional game, not the Black Mamba and he wound up being a five-time champion when it was all set and done.
Trevor Ariza describes how he and Kobe Bryant became ‘inseparable’
Bryant’s personality did not mesh well with all of his teammates due to his extreme desire to win at any cost. However, championship teammate Trevor Ariza described how he formed an ‘inseparable’ relationship with Bryant on and off the court.
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