Coming out of one of the best draft classes the NBA has seen in 1996, Kobe Bryant has been known to be one of the most relentless competitors ever. But coupled with his brawn, heart, and unequivocal desire to compete, is a very cerebral player that took all his blue collar traits and fused them with a brilliantly analytic mind.
One of Bryant's toughest competitors was his 1996 NBA Draft classmate Allen Iverson, who was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the No. 1 overall pick.
A feared scorer even in his rookie year, Iverson was the one puzzle Bryant was constantly trying to solve as he started his NBA career.
The Los Angeles Lakers legend openly expressed his obsession with Iverson in a self-written piece: Obsession Is Natural on The Players' Tribune.
“Working harder wasn’t enough. I had to study this man maniacally.
I obsessively read every article and book I could find about AI. I obsessively watched every game he had played, going back to the IUPU All-American Game. I obsessively studied his every success, and his every struggle. I obsessively searched for any weakness I could find.
I searched the world for musings to add to my AI Musecage.
This led me to study how great white sharks hunt seals off the coast of South Africa.
The patience. The timing. The angles.”
Bryant studied Iverson like a wild predator studies its prey — only that its prey is no ordinary one, capable of hunting him down with the same savage tools he intended to use in the first place.
“On Feb 20, 2000, in Philadelphia, PJ gave me the assignment of guarding AI at the start of the second half. No one knew how much this challenge meant to me.
I wanted him to feel the frustration I felt.
I wanted everyone who laughed at the 41 and 10 he put on me to choke on their laughter.”
The Black Mamba grew up in Philadelphia and self-admittedly looked forward to playing in front of his hometown — only to be met with cheers, cheers that he soon realized were intended for Iverson with every dazzling move he made to get past his defender.
Despite being drafted seven spots after The Answer, Bryant went on to have a longer and more successful career, winning five championships, two scoring titles, and enjoying 18 All-Star mentions in his 20 years in the league.
This maniacal desire to win and to overachieve with no regard for what's deemed to be over-the-top is what often draws comparisons to Michael Jordan — which shows that to be the best, it needs to start by being different, maybe very different — even if it is a little weird at first.
Follow Us
Subscribe