“Champions Stay Focused on The Goal” Episode No. 190 (Subtitles)
You got a lot of people playing their hard-earned money to come watch you perform. It’s your job to be in shape, it’s your job to be strong enough to perform at that level every single night. And as a competitor, I’m not ducking. Like, it’s not, “Oh my God, my back hurts, I’m sore. We got to play Vince Carter and Toronto Raptors tonight.” We actually had this happen. We had a game against Toronto in 2000, and Vince was tearing the league up. My back was checked, jacked, but like the perception of that, like what?
“Kobe’s missing the game against Toronto and Vince Carter because my back was really spazzing me.” But people will be like, “What? Oh, he’s ducking Vince, excuse me. No, I don’t think so.” So I would be in the layup line like, “Okay, there’s a lot of days where, you know, you can rest and recover. Today ain’t one of them. Your back can bother you any other day. That ain’t bothering me today. We’re going. He gonna have to see me today. Yeah, oh man, yeah.”
Number one, listen to me very closely. There’s a difference between a winner and a champion. You can win and have a bad attitude. You cannot be a champion with a bad attitude. The difference between winning and Champion is the way they think. Champions think different than winners. You can win just having a sweet coach who got a sweet plan. You can have a coach that just played the game at the highest level in Texas and be able to just teach you some stuff about the game that you don’t know. You can win like that. You can win with a great coach. You cannot be a champion with just a great coach.
Mamba mentality simply means trying to be the best version of yourself. That’s what the mentality means. It means every day you’re trying to become better. It’s a constant Quest. It’s an infinite Quest. So starting at the age of two when I first started playing the game and on and on and on, I always ask questions. I always try to get better every single day, learn more. You were asking questions, that too? Oh dude, I was asking questions all the time. You’d be surprised. Like, some people, like my kids at two, could do a lot of things. Right? At two, I could dribble a basketball.
I could shoot a basketball on a Nerf hoop at the house. And I would go to practice with my father. I would observe my father. I’d sit and watch games with them. Was he your first coach? Um, yeah man, I guess you could say that. You know a lot of things I learned about being just being around the game, right? So by the age of six I was already strategizing versus other six-year-olds. You know the age of six I figured out six-year-olds couldn’t dribble with their left hand.
Champions are focused on the goal. They don’t have time to be doing stuff that’s not going to help you toward the goal. So all the little stuff you talking about, all the little social media, all the little going home, all the little crap. Listen to me save that for when you graduate. You’ll have plenty of time when you finish here I promise you, you’re gonna have something to complain about when you finish this four-year ride and you go in the real world you’re gonna have some real stuff to complain about so don’t do it now it’s possible for you to live your dream it’s necessary that you associate with winners that you work your system that you are Relentless that you never give up it’s you you’ve got to take personal responsibility you’ve got to make it your personal business to make it happen and you’ve got to resolve within yourself that I can do this that it’s hard but you’ve got to say I’m the one I’m the one to make this happen I’m the one to become successful in this business as you work to help other people to become successful that feeds your success but you know it’s going to be hard but find out what will make it worth it for you.
So ladies and gentlemen if you want to make your dream become a reality, the people who are running after their dreams know that it’s possible. They know that you can live your dream, that it’s necessary to be relentless, that you have to have a plan of action, that you have to be creative. The people who are living their dreams are finding winners to attach themselves to. The people who are living their dreams know that if it’s going to happen, it’s up to them. And they’re resolving within themselves, “It’s not over until I win.”
The people who are running after their dreams know they’re going to have hard times, but they keep on running because they’re saying within themselves, “I’m the one. I’m the one.” No matter how bad it is or how bad it gets, I’m going to make it. The people who are running after their dreams are the people who are hungry. Shake somebody’s head on your right and left and say, “You’ve got to be hungry.”
You know, there was a player, Barbosa, I don’t know if you remember. Yeah, of course, I remember. He was extremely talented, with a good, quick first step, but they said he wouldn’t do well when the spotlight was on him. Yeah. How did you get mentally and emotionally so strong where it doesn’t bother you? Well, you know, it’s… You’ve got to look at the reality of the situation. You know, like, for me, it’s not… You know, you kind of got to get over yourself. It’s not about you, man. Like, okay, you feel embarrassed? You’re not that important. Like, get over yourself. That’s where you… Get over yourself, right?
Like, you’re worried about how people may perceive you, and like, you’re walking around, and it’s embarrassing because you shot five air balls. Get over yourself, right? And then after that, it’s okay. Well, why did those air balls happen? Got it. High school year before, we played 35 games max, right? Week in between, spaced out, plenty of time to rest. And the NBA is back to back to back to back to back to back to back. I didn’t have the legs. So you look at the shot. Every shot was online, but every shot was short, right? I’ve got to get stronger. I’ve got to train differently, the weight training program that I’m doing. I’ve got to tailor it for an 82-game season so that when the playoffs come around, my legs are stronger and that ball gets there. So I look at it with rationale and say, “Okay, well, the reason why I shot air balls is because my legs aren’t there. I got one next year. They’ll be there. That was it. Done.”
