100 Quotes by Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant, a basketball legend and cultural icon, redefined the sport with his unparalleled work ethic and unyielding competitive spirit. Spending his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant's dedication to perfecting his craft earned him a reputation as one of the greatest players in NBA history. Beyond his impressive statistics, his tenacity on the court and his "Mamba Mentality" — a term he coined to describe his relentless pursuit of excellence — became a symbol of determination for athletes across disciplines. Bryant's impact extended far beyond basketball, as he transitioned into a successful businessman, author, and advocate for various charitable causes. His tragic passing in 2020, along with his daughter Gianna and others, left a void in the sports world and beyond, but his legacy continues to inspire generations to approach their goals with unwavering dedication and passion.
Kobe Bryant Quotes
Everyting negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise. (Meaning)
If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail. (Meaning)
If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear. (Meaning)
Everybody has a different journey. (Meaning)
You just stay patient, that's all. (Meaning)
People just don't understand how obsessed I am with winning. (Meaning)
I wanna be the best, simple and plain (Meaning)
I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success.
Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.
It's not about the number of hours you practice, it's about the number of hours your mind is present during the practice
Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses.
These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.
I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.
Heroes come and go, but legends are forever.
I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you.
The most important thing, the thing that unites all of us, is that we can INSPIRE and CHALLENGE one another TO BE BETTER.
I've known for a long time that they're a bunch of idiots.
If you want to make history, you have to do historic things
If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail.
You're my backbone. You're a blessing. You're a piece of my heart. You're the air I breathe. And you're the strongest person I know, and I'm so sorry for having to put you through this and having to put our family through this.
Listen to how everyone is talking about you. You have to use it as fuel for motivation.
I wear the number 10 Jersey for the US National Team in honour of the Greatest athlete I have ever seen: Messi.
Love me or hate me, it's one or the other. Always has been. Hate my game, my swagger. Hate my fadeaway, my hunger. Hate that I'm a veteran. A champion. Hate that. Hate it with all your heart. And hate that I'm loved, for the exact same reasons.
We all know what flopping is when we see it. The stuff that you see is where guys aren't really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water.
Once you know what it is in life that you want to do, then the world basically becomes your library. Everything you view, you can view from that perspective, which makes everything a learning asset for you.
If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear.
You just stay patient, that's all.
When you love something, you'll always come back to it. You'll always keep asking questions, and finding answers.
There is power in understanding the journey of others to help create your own
The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.
You can't be held captive by the fear of failure or the fear of what people may say.
I'm extremely willful to win, and I respond to challenges. Scoring titles and stuff like that... it sounds, well, I don't care how it sounds - to me, scoring comes easy. It's not a challenge to me to win the scoring title, because I know I can.
If you make it, great. If you miss it - what's there to be afraid of?
I never tried to prove anything to someone else. I wanted to prove something to myself.
I realize now that there's a strength in dunking that I can use to my advantage. When you dunk all the time it isn't as demoralizing to the opponent, but when you dunk at a key moment in the game you can use it to change the momentum.
You have to be true to who you are.
Everyone looks at your watch and it represents who you are, your values and your personal style.
You always have to be on edge. You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last.
I don't set out to make a really hot shoe, I set out to make a product that is true to where I am.
My parents are my backbone. Still are. They're the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40.
Each moment of my life I was dreaming of how great I could be, and continued working hard. Each time I closed my eyes I could see me shining bright like a sun.
If you don't believe in yourself. Nobody else will.
There's a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something, there's a choice you have to make. We all can be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that. Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with making that decision.
I'm reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.
I feel like I just returned a 100-yard kickoff in the last two minutes of the Super Bowl to win it all, only to have my run called back by a flag on the play.
Basketball is my refuge, my sanctuary. I go back to being a kid on the playground. When I get here, it's all good.
He shouldn't have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard.
I've pretty much done all I can here and, you know, God will carry me the rest of the way, so I'm pretty comfortable with that.
I wanna be the best, simple and plain
People just don't understand how obsessed I am with winning.
Everything has a purpose. And that purpose has a story that goes along with it. It just depends on what your passion is.
As far as carrying the torch for the years to come, I don't know. I just want to be the best basketball player I can be.
I've played with IVs before, during and after games. I've played with a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a torn shoulder, a fractured tooth, a severed lip, and a knee the size of a softball. I don't miss 15 games because of a toe injury that everybody knows wasn't that serious in the first place.
I enjoy playing at the heart of it is just a kid who really loves playing the game of basketball.
When you have empathy toward your opponents, it helps you destroy them quicker. Because you understand exactly who they are. You understand what buttons to push. You understand if they're insecure, if they fear embarrassment. And you can really hit those buttons to strike a nerve.
Winning takes precedence over all. There's no gray area. No almosts.
If I panic, everyone else panics.
I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it.
My brain cannot process failure... It WILL not process failure
Once you open your eyes and start looking around you, you start picking up things that are very obvious.
We all can be masters at our craft, but you have to make sacrifices that come along with making that decision.
I'm chasing perfection.
We're grown ass men, you don't need to be falling all over the place.
I don't just try to score. The challenge is elevating my teammates to be able to win a championship.
I was probably born a scorer, but I was made a winner. Whatever works, whatever wins championships, wins games, that's what I do.
Everybody has a different journey.
I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition-that's what I've always wanted.
I wouldn’t say I’m a ball hog. I’m a shooter. I don’t necessarily hog the ball, but I put them up though. I definitely much rather shoot it than pass it. That’s just how I am.
What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection... and if I don't get it, I'm going to get this close.
Being a leader, it's the art of trying to find the balance, the right times with each individual and what they need at that moment. It requires looking outward as opposed to looking inside.
One thing you gotta know about me is I have absolutely no filter. I have no problem saying what the hell I think of someone.
The important thing is that your teammates have to know you're pulling for them and you really want them to be successful.
Difficulty is a nurse of greatness-a harsh nurse, who rocks her foster children roughly, but rocks them in strength and athletic proportion. The mind, grappling with great aims and wrestling with mighty impediments, grows by a certain necessity to the stature of greatness.
Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they've taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences.
The guy said NBA players are one in a million, ... I said, 'Man, look, I'm going to be that one in a million.
It’s not a question of if we make the playoffs; we will. And when we get there, I have no fear of anyone.
Teach players the game at an early age and stop treating them like cash cows for everyone to profit off of.
You want a CEO that understands they need to build a team around them that's sharper and smarter than they are.
Dear Basketball, From the moment I started rolling my dad's tube socks and shooting imaginary game-winning shots ... I fell in love with you.
I like playing for the purple and gold. This is where I want to finish up.
Horrible, terrible AAU basketball. It's stupid. It doesn't teach our kids how to play the game at all so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don't know how to post. They don't know the fundamentals of the game. It's stupid.
I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.
You can't go and anticipate what it is that you want to see. You just have to be present. Be where you are.
I'm focused on the task that lies ahead for us.
Sometimes I do wonder what college would have been like. But I made my decision.
The party's just getting started. This is where the fun starts.
The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don't have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven't had that fear.
I don't have to hear that criticism, that idotic criticism anymore.
I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it into Chris Mihm & Kwame Brown?
You have to rely on others to have success as a group.
I think that game is a testament to what happens when you put no ceiling to what you're capable of doing.
Diligent accumulation of personal wealth is not inherently ungodly so long as it is complemented by equally diligent distribution of personal wealth.
Thank god, I'm not from this world.
Everybody shut up. Let us work.
I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber.
If there were camera phones back in the day, the biggest athletes in the world would have had a lot of explaining to do.
There's been a lot of talk of me being a one-man show but that's simply not the case. We win games when I score 40 points and we've won when I score 10.
There's a through line that connects all of us.
The people who truly know me know what I'm like. There have been people who try to say things that aren't fair, and I check them. And then they don't like me because I checked them.
The motivation for me is just the game itself, just playing the game the right way and trying to win, compete every time I step out there on the floor. That's motivation enough for me to go out there and play well.
I draw from the crowd a lot.
I don't talk trash often, but when I do, I go for the jugular.
In an individual sport, yes, you have to win titles. Baseball's different. But basketball, hockey? One person can control the tempo of a game, can completely alter the momentum of a series. There's a lot of great individual talent.
It really doesn't matter to me. We're just talking about clothes. I can understand what the NBA is trying to do. I love my sneakers, but we're just talking about clothes.
He is a fool who only sees the mischiefs that are past.
When I'm finished playing, I want people to say, 'He handled this well, he kept his cool.'
It doesn't bother me at all. Do I hold any hard feelings? Not at all, ... Life is too short to sit around and hold grudges. I don't hold any whatsoever.
Friends come and go but banners hang forever.
I'm a scorer, not a triple-double player
It doesn't matter to me what place I get traded to. If I was traded someplace - I'd play anywhere.
To be honest with you, I (would) much rather play basketball and not be famous.
I focus on one thing and one thing only - that's trying to win as many championships as I can.
For us to be the team that got him that historic 10th championship is special for us.
The Kobe 8 is about enhanced performance. It's the most comfortable shoe I have worn. It's simplistic but has an edge to it.
You have to be able to separate business from the love of the game. There were a lot of decisions made business-wise that I wasn't happy with, and I took a lot of blame over the years. But you have to be able to separate that from the love you have for the game.
At the end of 2003, my game was complete. Shooting, defense, using the dribble, transition, midrange stuff was all there. Then it was about fine-tuning and trying to improve in each area.
My role is to make sure we're moving in the right direction, getting points, rebounds, steals, assists and providing leadership.
What people see on court is another side of me; it's not me.
I don't think a coach becomes the right coach until he wins a championship.
You want me to own a team and deal with these rich, spoiled stubborn athletes, and try to get them to perform? No thank you.
It never bothered me when people would say, 'You only win championships because you're playing with Shaq.' It bothered me when he said it.
My brain . . . it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I sit there and have to face myself and tell myself, 'You're a failure' . . . I think that's almost worse than death.
I'm going to be the Will Smith of the NBA.
This is an award I couldn't have won on my own. I can't thank these guys enough. These are my guys, these are my brothers.
I had some shots that I felt like I should've made; I just didn't make them. I'm not going to shoot the ball great every night.
You just try to take it one day at a time, You step on the basketball floor and just play. It's fun. I'm comfortable with it.
You have to go with things that you understand. Businesses that you know.
When you start training camp, you're building the tools necessary to win a championship. You have to have the patience.
The only thing I'm afraid of is bees. I don't like bees. I'm allergic to them.
It's hard for me to grasp the concept of somebody being nervous when I'm talking to them.
I wouldn't say I'm a ball hog. I'm a shooter.
Everybody wants to talk about NBA players being selfish and arrogant and individuals. But what you saw today was a team bonding and facing adversity and coming out with a big win.
I've been watching Messi for some time now, and his ability to decide games and keep possession of the ball is amazing.
I felt like when we came back from the All-Star break we needed everybody to feel like they were part of the team, ... I'm just trying to do whatever the team needs at any given time.
I've got four dogs, and I just don't do dog doo. I'm a diva when it comes to that.
Nobody in the world can guard me one-on-one.
People look at my competitive spirit, and they automatically attach it to the thing that's most similar, most easily recognizable, which is Michael [Jordan's] competitive spirit. I'm different. I enjoy building. I enjoy the process of putting the puzzle together, and then the byproduct of that, the consequence of that, is beating somebody. That becomes the cherry on top, the icing on the cake.
I grew up in front of these people, and now they are seeing me as an 'older' young man.
I won’t react to something just because I’m supposed to, because I’m an African-American.
I'm just right down the middle, man, It doesn't matter to me. I'd love him (Phil Jackson) as a coach. It doesn't matter to me. If they want him here, he'll be here. If he wants to come, he'll come, he'll coach and we'll go from there.
I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. No matter what the injury - unless it's completely debilitating - I'm going to be the same player I've always been. I'll figure it out. I'll make some tweaks, some changes, but I'm still coming.
Christmas morning, I'm going to open presents with my kids. I'm going to take pictures of them opening the presents. Then I'm going to come to the Staples Center and get ready to work.
I love going one-on-one with someone. That's what I do. I've never lost. It's a whole different game, just to have them right in front of you and be able to do whatever you want.
I'm not jumping through the gym by any means. But I don't need to be able to do that in order to be a great player.
I'm not the most patient of people...
Only an idiot would doubt my return
If they want to win right now, I'm all for it. That's all I said the whole time. If you want to wait five years, let me know. My legs aren't as young as they used to be.
What does perfection look like to me? Championship rings
There's a much bigger world out there.
It's different from being 21 and you think there's endless amount of opportunities. At 33, the ending is much, much closer.
I write all day and outline stories, a sports mythological universe.
Magic has five championships. I have five championships. I'm pretty sure we both know what we're doing.
It's disgusting, but my father taught me when your mouth gets dry, just suck the sweat out of your own jersey. There's no bravado to any of it; it's just a disgusting little trick.
― Kobe Bryant Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
