# Quotes on Kobe Bryant



## Sean (Jun 7, 2002)

*Caron Butler*:

LINK 
Caron Butler says he's grateful he spent a year in Los Angeles as Kobe Bryant's teammate and work out partner.

"I say that's the best thing that ever could have happened for me personally for my career," Butler said. "To play alongside a guy like that, see his preparation, see what it takes to get to that level, that's why I was able to be so good in Washington because I took everything I learned from him under his wing." 

Butler played in 77 games in 2004-05 with the Lakers. He averaged a then career-high (by a tick) 15.5 points and then career-high 5.8 rebounds. His free throw shooting improved, too.

"Work ethic," Butler said. "He comes to the gym 6:30, 7 in the morning, gets shots every day, a rhythm. Afterward hits the weight room, works out in the summer, studying film, critiquing guys, watching their tendencies, picking things up ... Just studying the game with him taught me a lot."

Butler and Bryant talk every couple of weeks, and when Butler was traded to Dallas, Bryant was quick with a call.

"He told me he was happy for me and happy to see me in a situation to be able to legitimately compete for a title," Butler said.

But Wednesday will be a different conversation.

"You always hear that he's ready to compete," Butler said. "He's happy but at the same time once we get on the court all bets are off with Kobe. He's going to bring it, then hug me afterwards. That's how it is. It's business."


LINK 

Q: To Caron Butler - What makes former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant speak so highly of you?

"It's a big brother-little brother type of relationship. How I developed as an NBA player, a lot of credit goes to him, being under his wing out there in Los Angeles. Working out with him every morning, doing all the little things, watching his approach to the game, his mentality, a lot of that rubbed off on me."

*Deron Williams*:

LINK

Deron Williams and Kobe Bryant are mutual admirers.

"I have a lot of respect for his game. He's one of the hardest workers I've ever seen," Williams said. "He's just a great competitor... just seeing how he works every day, it's inspiring."

Williams said he had always heard about Bryant's relentlessly competitive nature, but seeing it as a USA teammate offered a different perspective.

Williams saw a veteran player at the top of his game with an insatiable appetite to stay there. He noted that Bryant arrived a day before the rest of the USA team in Las Vegas to begin his routines in preparation for the games.

"Until you see it up close and personal, you never really know," Williams said. "Any time a guy was scoring on an opposing team, he wanted to guard him. He always wanted the toughest assignment. That's just his nature."

*Kevin Durant*:

LINK

Some of the roots of what made Kevin Durant such an efficient scoring machine can be traced back to the summer of 2008 when he was trying to make the roster for Beijing and the team was given a day off in Las Vegas.

We'll let Durant pick up the story from there.

"We had the day off, but they said we could get some shots up if we wanted, so I decided to head over to the gym with [Oklahoma City teammate] Jeff Green.

"Kobe [Bryant] was the only guy on the bus to the gym, and that spoke volumes to me -- he's the best player in the game, yet he's always willing to come work on his game, so that kind of motivated me and Jeff," Durant said. "He went by himself, he got a lot of shots up, and by the time he was done you could see he had gotten better over that hour. Like I said, it was a big inspiration to me and Jeff."

*Trevor Ariza*:

LINK

Trevor Ariza tried to explain the other day, and he wound up stopping mid-sentence to convey what he was truly feeling.

"I used it like it was..." he began.

Then he tilted his head back, turned his palms up and stretched those noodle arms out to his sides.

He looked to the heavens, "I used it like it was the Bible," Ariza said.

What we were talking about was the shooting-practice program given to Ariza entering the summer before this season by one Kobe Bryant.

The meaning of the gesture to Ariza - and its net effect in transforming his jump shot and thus this Lakers championship team - makes it the quintessence of the latter-day Bryant as a teammate.

"Kobe has become a giver rather than just a guy who is a demanding leader," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said upon the Lakers winning the NBA championship Sunday night. "And that's been great for him and great to watch." 

Bryant has pushed forward even further in prioritizing his teammates' development. Sharing his personal shooting program with Ariza was akin to unlocking the vault.

"Getting that from him? Kind of cool, kind of cool," Ariza said. "Because before I got here, you always hear how he's this certain type of person. And when I got here, you realize he's not what everybody says he is."

"I just got in the gym every day and worked. I used what he told me, used some things that he gave me to do. And I just worked."

It worked. Ariza had made nine 3-pointers in his first four NBA seasons. This season, he made 61 as a prelude to his 47.6 percent playoff marksmanship that Bynum described with bugged-out eyes this way: "His shooting is ridiculous at this point."

Bryant made nine 3-pointers in the NBA Finals; Ariza made 10. Bryant made 37 3-pointers in the playoffs; Ariza made 40.

Twice in the second quarter Sunday night, Bryant drew defenders and kicked the ball over to Ariza, who stepped into perfect-form 3-pointers against the team that traded him. During that stretch that became a 16-0 run, the Lakers started settling on their summer smiles.

Asked about Orlando trading him to the Lakers, Ariza said: "I know they always knew that I could shoot the ball; that wasn't the issue. It was just the confidence."

*USA Basketball*:

LINK and LINK

These 2008 Olympics have been the most remarkable three weeks of Kobe Bryant’s basketball life. He disdains the marketing “Redeem Team” title, calling it “kind of cheesy” because let’s face it: Those weren’t his international failures over the past eight years. Nike tried so hard to make LeBron James a co-star of these Games but failed miserably. He’s riding shotgun and doesn’t seem terribly thrilled about it. There’s no usurping Bryant in China.

Bryant has won the respect of his teammates, but he doesn’t run in the big cliques on the team. LeBron is the ringleader of the young players, and Kobe goes his own way. He’s won his teammates over with his ferocity, his insatiable need to win, but no one ever gets close to Bryant. He’s a loner, but he learned to lead. When all hell was breaking loose in the semifinal victory over Argentina, it was Bryant working with Jason Kidd to bring his teammates back from the brink of losing composure.

In the very first play of last summer's Tournament of the Americas, Bryant tipped the ball away from the Venezuela point guard, dived on the court trying to get it, got back up, stole the next pass and started a fastbreak. They've defended like banshees ever since.

"That's the clip Coach Mike Krzyzewski always uses, Kobe diving on the floor," says U.S. scout Tony Ronzone. "You're talking about an MVP player in the NBA who just made a statement to USA basketball... and what that did is it took our defense to another level."

"What you're seeing is something that started last summer in Las Vegas, which is amazing."

LINK and LINK

After containing Leandro Barbosa, Kobe Bryant still had time to keep up with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.

James scored 21 points, Bryant added 20 and harassed Barbosa all over the court, and the United States clinched the top spot in its group by beating Brazil 113-76 Sunday night in the FIBA Americas tournament.

"When you see Kobe Bryant diving for loose balls," USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said, "that commitment and passion, that's a message."

Bryant shadowed Brazilian star Leandros Barbosa, holding The Blur to four points on 1-for-7 shooting.

Barbosa entered averaging a tournament-best 27 points after scoring 36 Saturday in a 93-89 victory over the U.S. Virgin Islands. But the Phoenix guard and NBA's top sixth man never got into this game because of Bryant's early defense, and was on the bench in foul trouble when the Americans broke open the game late in the second quarter. 

"He don't guard like that in the NBA," said Barbosa. "But he did tonight and I was impressed. He came to guard me, and that was good practice for me. I learned a lot of things the way he was guarding me."

And of course...

*Ron Artest*:

LINK
All I can say is thank goodness for the newest Laker Ron Artest. He quickly has become the eyes and ears of Lakers fans via Twitter.

He reported Thursday that he arrived at the gym early, early in the morning for a hard workout,but once inside, he discovered he wasn't alone.

"3rd workout done. Let me tell why I LOVE KOBE JELLY BEAN BRYANT! I get to the gym at 6:45 am, the Black Mamba is there since 5:30! Go Lakers!!!" 

Apparenlty Bryant, too, is eager for the season.

LINK
Want to know the secret why Ron Artest’s shots have been looking much better as of late? It may have something to do with the Laker forward’s new practice routine. Since the series against the Utah Jazz, Artest has been coming to practice two, or sometimes three hours earlier to work on his shots.

“It was something I always used to do when I was in Sacramento,” said Artest. 

The only other Laker practicing earlier in there as well? None other than Lakers superstar himself, Kobe Bryant. 

“Getting to practice with Kobe… you know he is just something.”

LINK

What are your thoughts on Kobe?

I thought you'd never ask. We'll be on the plane, playing cards. Kobe will walk up, stop the game and say, "Ron, come to the back of the plane." Then, he'll show me some tape and say, "Look at this. Here's what you need to do." I'll go back to my seat, and then he'll walk up to Shannon Brown, stop the card game and do the same thing. And it doesn't matter if you're sleeping. He'll wake you up and show you things you've never thought about. He puts so much time and passion into the game. I have no problem following somebody who's worth being followed, who works as hard as me. I will follow Kobe anywhere.


*John Celestand*:

LINK

In the fall of 1996, my roommate at Villanova, Howard Brown, and I shared a laugh. A skinny bald-headed high school kid, who was a star at the school around the corner, sat in our locker room and told us he probably wouldn’t come to Villanova. The “cocky” kid told us he would probably just skip college altogether. Instead, he would just go straight to the NBA.

We laughed that night back in our dormitory. We took turns asking each other, “Who does this kid think he is? What is he smoking?” 

That kid was Kobe Bryant and now I wonder what the hell were we laughing at.

I would join the “kid” on the Lakers in 1999 when I was drafted as the No. 30 overall pick by the organization. I had followed Kobe on television for three years prior to joining the team. But TV could not illustrate how Kobe made himself. Only viewing him in person, right there in the practice facility in El Segundo, could a person get an accurate gauge. There was a reason for his greatness. There was a reason for his cockiness. Kobe prepared, he worked, he prepared and he worked again.

The first time I began to understand why he was the best was in the pre-season. In a game against the Wizards, Kobe broke the wrist on his shooting hand. He was always the first person to practice every day, arriving at least an hour and a half early. This would infuriate me because I wanted to be the first person to practice, just as I had always been at Villanova and Piscataway High in New Jersey. To add insult to injury, I lived only 10 minutes from the practice facility -- while Kobe was at least 35 minutes away.

I am ashamed to say that I was excited the day after his injury because I knew that there was no way that No. 8 (as former Laker point guard Tyronn Lue called him) would be the first to practice, if he would even be there at all.

As I walked through the training room, I became stricken with fear when I heard a ball bouncing. No, no, it couldn’t be! Yes it could. Kobe was already in a full sweat with a cast on his right arm and dribbling and shooting with his left.

As the next couple of days of practice passed, I would glance over as Phil Jackson was talking and see Kobe on the side going full speed and pulling up with his left. He was a conducting an all-out practice with himself. Lakers trainer Gary Viti, had to come in and tell Kobe to take a rest. But when Viti left, Kobe was at it again.

One day I was shooting on a side basket -- on the court that Kobe had made his own practice spot. He challenged me.

“Cele, let’s shoot," he said. "Wanna play H-O-R-S-E?”

I laughed at him. I was actually insulted that he would challenge me, a pro, to a game of horse with his left hand. After he insisted, I figured I would just whip him and prove to him that he wasn’t Superman. He couldn’t do everything.

He made shot after shot after shot. I was beginning to feel more pressure as I got each letter. First H, then O, then R, then S. I couldn’t let this man beat me with a broken shooting hand. My gosh, he was shooting threes with his left. I finally made a deep three and the stars aligned and Kobe missed. I had escaped the most embarrassing moment of my basketball life. When he missed he was infuriated.

“Come on Cele, let’s play again,” Kobe insisted.

He really thought he could win and he almost did. He really thought he was Superman. He really thought I would put myself in another situation to lose all of my dignity. I laughed at him again.

“Maybe later,” I replied.

When Kobe's wrist healed and he came back during the regular season, he again proved to me that he believed he could do anything. During his first game back, Kobe drove left and pulled up for a jumper. It was an airball. He shot it with his left. The result didn’t matter. The fact he attempted the shot astounded me. In an NBA game in front of thousands, the man shot a left-handed jumper. He believed it would go in. He really believed.

Today, five years later, nothing I see from or about No. 8 surprises me. It didn’t surprise me that he thought he could win without Shaquille O'Neal. It didn’t surprise me that he didn’t succeed. It won’t surprise if he comes back and succeeds this year. It didn’t surprise me that he could go to Colorado, sit in court, fly to Denver and drop game-winning shot all on the same day. It doesn’t surprise me that Kobe is averaging 36.5 points per game. It won’t surprise me if he leads the league in scoring.

I called my old roommate, Howard Brown, long distance over in Spain where he is playing professionally. We talked about life, we talked about old times. We talked about Kobe leading the league in scoring.

We both agreed Kobe’s game is no joke and we ain’t laughing no more.


*Robert Horry*:

LINK

I tell people all the time I used to play with Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant is probably one of the best basketball player you'll ever see outside of Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon. 

The thing that makes Kobe so great, is that he's a hard worker.

And I hope the young kids would watch him and learn that you can't get anywhere unless you put in the work, the time, and the effort. And that's what Kobe does, he brings a lot of the time, and lot of the effort.

People don't know that, but he's always the 1st in the gym, and the last to leave, even though he is the best player in the game right now.


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## ii9ce (Feb 1, 2005)

Nice read.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

I've actually read all of these quotes before, but it's great going through them again. Kobe's the man.


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## Luke (Dec 7, 2008)

But he's a selfish ball hogging rapist!

I'm just glad that after fourteen years people are finally starting to appreciate Kobe the basketball player, not scrutinize Kobe the person. Good read.


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## Wilmatic2 (Oct 30, 2005)

John Celestand's stories are most entertaining.


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

Very nice compilation Sean.



VanillaPrice said:


> But he's a selfish ball hogging rapist!
> 
> *I'm just glad that after fourteen years people are finally starting to appreciate Kobe the basketball player, not scrutinize Kobe the person.* Good read.


You and I have disagreed more often than not in the past, but I completely agree with that statement.


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## jazzy1 (Jul 16, 2002)

Kobe is the man maybe in his last 5 years he can be hailed and go out like a statesmen respected and loved by most. The Haters had it all wrong with Kobe when it looked like they might be right. 

I always thought Kobe would quiet the haters because he pushed back with his work ethic not hissy fits and verbal arguments about not being appreciated. 

Guys that will work will always overcome.

I find it interesting that Lebron thought because he was a ring leader with the young guys that somehow because of his strong personality Kobe would fall in line under his thumb. 

Kobe a loner and not gonna fall behind some chump that hadn't won anything ...From what I hear Lebron was ridiculously jealous of Kobe because China loved him more than Lebron. What Lebron didn't understand is Kobe put in the work going to China thats why the Chinese loved him the work he did in China prior. The coaches and other managers of the Okympic hoop team actually loved that Kobe was hailed and Lebron wasn;t. He was a real diva on that team.


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## Sean (Jun 7, 2002)

Long story from SI:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138936/1/index.htm


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## afobisme (Apr 29, 2006)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/?eref=sinav

rookies + current and former nba players respect/look up to kobe more than anyone else in the league.. yet lebron's more often than not touted as the best player. why is this? is it because kobe's older than lebron, or he's won more? or is it because kobe has a true legend's mentality while lebron doesn't?

imo it's probably all those things.. but the biggest reason why, imo, is the way kobe competes. you know he's just going to keep going and going at you, and it kind of instills a fear or or respect from you that lebron has yet to replicate.


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## Sean (Jun 7, 2002)

*Gary Payton*:

LINK


> Gary Payton, who played with Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade on the Miami team that won the 2006 NBA title, said the other day the pressure is on the Heat’s Big Three – not Fil-Am coach Erik Spoelstra – to prove they can deliver a championship to the franchise.
> 
> “The pressure is on Dwyane, LeBron (James) and Chris (Bosh) to show it was worth all the trouble of getting them together,” he said. “I’ve played with Dwyane and it’s no knock on him but if you compare him with Kobe (Bryant), there’s a big difference in their work ethic. I played with Kobe, too, and he’d be more from my era. Kobe knows how to be humble. If Kobe loses a game, you’ll see him the next day in the gym, working extra hard to make sure he’ll be better. I don’t know if that's the same with Dwyane. They’re both great players but Dwyane is more the "show" type. There are high expectations for the Heat. It’s up to the Big Three to show they deserve to be up there with the best.”


^ Contribution by *Mike D*.


*Dwight Howard*:

LINK


> What it's like playing with Kobe?
> 
> Man you know, there were some games were, even though I was on the court, I just wanted to watch Kobe... you know, do his thing. It was just so much fun, watching him go to work.
> 
> ...



*Laron Profit*:

LINK


> You know it was so funny, my first experience when I was out in LA, me and Kwame Brown got traded to the Lakers [in Summer of 2005]. We were playing a pick-up game before the season started, we were playing 3 on 3, and it was game point.
> 
> Kobe had the ball and it came off, and Kwame knocked the ball away from him.
> 
> ...


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