It's really not as easy as it looks for Kobe Bryant. He works at it real hard. Business Insider has put together this fascinating list of things Bryant has done to get an extra edge. How does your work ethic compare?
1. He ran on an anti-gravity treadmill all summer to stay in shape without hurting his Achilles.
2. He decided to lose 16 pounds for the Olympics in 2012.
3. Showed up at 5 a.m. and left practice at 7 p.m. ... in high school.
4. He'd make high school teammates play one-on-one games to 100---In Kobe's worst game, he still won 100-12.
5. He used to practice by himself without a ball
Shaq wrote in his book:
"You'd walk in there and he'd be cutting and grunting and motioning like he was dribbling and shooting — except there was no ball. I thought it was weird, but I'm pretty sure it helped him."
6. He counts all of his made shots in practice, and stops when he gets to 400.
7. He had Nike put 'sutures' on his new sneakers to remind him of his injury.
8. He goes through super intense workouts on game days.
From ESPN's Rick Reilly:
"Among a dozen other drills, Bryant does suicide push-ups. At the top of the pushup, he launches himself off the mat so hard that both his feet come off the ground and his hands slap his pecs. He does three sets of seven of these. This makes me turn away and whimper softly."
9. He is on a crazy strict diet right now.
10. He ices his knees for 20 minutes three times per day and does acupuncture so he doesn't get hurt.
11. He watches film of himself at halftime
12. He had Nike shave a few millimeters off the bottom of his shoes in 2008 to get 'a hundredth of a second better reaction time.'
13. He trains for four hours a day during the season, and more than that in the offseason.
14. He keeps players after practice as 'guinea pigs.'
15. This quote from an NBA scout in 2008: 'Allen Iverson loves to play when the lights come on. Kobe loves doing the s--- before the lights come on."
"Showed up at 5 a.m. and left practice at 7 p.m. ... in high school."
ReplyDeleteI wonder how that works. Did he ever go to class or was he one of the retards that got straight A's simply for being on the team?
I assume he left his after-school practice at that time. So, he probably squeezed in an extra 3 hours of practice a day during the school week beyond the scheduled practice. I use to come to school very early when I played as well.
DeleteBy the way, Kobe is one of the more intelligent NBA players. IIRC, he scored maybe 1080 on the old SAT. Not brilliant, but not bad.
what would be the point of going to class in most public schools? Would you like to compare his W2 to yours? Appears his choice of labor has paid off pretty well wouldn't you say?
ReplyDeleteHis work ethic shows on the court.
ReplyDeleteHe grew up in Italy and speaks several languages fluently, I think he did just fine with his studies.
ReplyDeleteHe grew up in Italy and speaks several languages fluently, I think he did just fine with his studies.
ReplyDelete