[FULL] Kobe Bryant's 2017 interview on First Take

our next guest spent his entire 20-year career with the Lakers five titles to finals MVPs as was named to 18 all-stars we welcome Kobe Bryant to the desk thank you so much for being here debuting canvas city music age we are very much looking look at smooth bro look at smooth I gotta say I'm very impressed never extra time you took back there and paid off look at this you finally you admit that dress is better than you yeah give it to me value those that aren't familiar with your project we want to share a clip and then get into it okay okay check it out every muse Cage is powered by two forces light music light music make you feel good in happens dark musics make you feel bad angry most people don't but what they don't understand is that dark musings just may be our greatest source of energy and power oh if you're looking for your inner beasts it's most likely living inside of a dark news really so Kobe I saw you yesterday an NBA countdown install a larger clip of this now obviously someone that's not a world-class athlete I love this because as a life school life skill I feel like it applies to anybody that's trying to hone a skill in trying to reach success but tell us more about this project well I wanted to create something that the whole family can enjoy you know I wanted something where the mother father children could all sit together on the couch and watch a program where the digesting basketball content that enables them to be better but it's content that kids can enjoy as well and then when it gets to the basketball breakdown portion how can I break down the game in a way that's entertaining and easily digest the ball and that's what we try to create we try to create sports content for the entire family to enjoy why can't why content product like you know what magic retired he went into business and it is like a variety of and you right away we heard he basically wants to be Stephen steel but like you know he wants to make things what why content creation for you you know I fell into writing at a very early age had a great teacher in high school in Marion J mustard mustard Island taught speaking arts and how to write structure and all these other things I just fell in love with it and so when I first came into the league I started writing my own commercials and started working on storytelling and so then when I retired I knew exactly what my passion was going to be and so I fell right into that and I think is athletes and as people all we can do is just follow what our what we enjoy doing the most and see where that leads how long before you retired how soon was it that you knew that this was something that you wanted to do I imagine it did just take place once you retired because you are a planner well I I kind of enjoyed the process of storytelling but then when it came to doing the the muse film the documentary film that's when I really fell in love with it because then I started falling in love with the process of actually writing out the chapters and then you know kind of structuring things visually and so forth and and then to see the reaction that I had that you know we received from people from the film of saying how much it impacted them and that just really centered my focus I'm thinking about today's game and I want to know how watching today's game even though you were a participant you're also an observer to some degree you kind of know what's going on you always have and now that you stepped away from the game because you're retired you're watching from afar clearly you're trying to impact the future generation want to come up but how much does watching today's game and how is it has evolved how much did that influence the work that you're doing now some but you know what we try to do what I try to do is write content that a child can understand and digest but also have the messaging be at such a level that professional athletes can understand and learn something from because these are experiences and things that I'm going through and learn from so you know at the end of the end of the basketball break down when I say you know reading the game will make you a good player understanding what you're reading will make you a great player but but if you can write the game that others read you become a champion right and that's a that's a different level of understanding where you're not reacting the situations but sure the one creating the situations that others react to right that is the whole key Kobe you're not you're not a normal competitor even by the insane competitive levels of the NBA you were an abnormal competitor so I if it's not a championship it's a wasted season right and that's why you won five championships one of the reasons he was in his music what is the championship for you now because now you're in a subjective right you're trying to create content and things that's more artistic and creative and not there there aren't the same kind of objective measurement of how you're doing so what's your championship now well it's the reactions from families I see families say finally I could sit down with my son and messages that I've been teaching him this whole time he's finally understanding and digesting through this content that's the championship to me I wonder when you're doing this kind of work I mean this is a this is clearly a beginning stage for you is there an ultimate goal in Lonnie and if so what is it to keep getting better to keep getting better you know from project to project you know we have a very close-knit family of producers that we work with to try to bring the content to life and we just want to get better from project to project that's all what other stories are you really looking forward to telling well things that continue to center around sport and you know the emotional connection that lies within sport and then how do you then communicate that in a very focused way but in a way that touches the masses how do you take a basketball situation and relate that to human nature and if we can do that continue to do that hopefully will inspire future generations as well as ready for a bad segue for a bad way everybody well how do you take a bad situation with the Lakers Kobe I mean magic was oh it was on our show we about a week before he got the job and says the first call I'm gonna make us to Kobe Bryant which I hear as meaning I've already called Kobe Bryant what do you do about the Lakers right now who's the keeper on the team how do you change the culture what do you do are you asking me for I'm not working right but but magic said you're the first phone call which means you two have been talking about this is no magic sorry I'm just gonna take this okay take it out well like okay I reached out to me and let me know that he was hiring Rob he's hard hiring RP and he and I talked about how great it was and what they want to do going forward I just told him how excited I was for Rob I mean this job is tailor-made for Rob this is what he does and so I've just been excited for both but in terms of an actual how they lose their way you were on the team as the team lost its way and how do you get it back well things happen yeah as you know mm-hm things come and they go right it's a cyclical game and you have your ups and you have your downs and now it's time for them to start rebuilding and start putting pieces of the puzzle there that can win championships again this is part of the beast storytelling is one thing and obviously you'll always be in a position to do that a league in VP of five-time champion of surefire future first-ballot hall-of-famer your credentials are impeccable they're not to be questioned so in that regard you'll always be able to store retail and that will never go anywhere what I want to know is when you have former players whether it's aspiring to be a coach which ain't you an executive or an owner at least on an ownership level does that intrigue you does that interest you is desert it depends on what depends you know my my passion is storytelling I can't go away from that this is what I love to do and this is what I get excited about waking up every single morning to do so are there ways I can help the Lakers from that perspective yeah maybe ownership perspective maybe but you know I mean I like being behind the scenes and being passive and things of that nature the phone call came I was certain we listened but in terms of being there every day and doing it for me not necessarily I hear you they're not necessarily being every day but I'm just talking about from afar but having a profound impact whenever you so choose if you think about magic magics president of basketball operations is a day-to-day god he talks about leaning on somebody like you because of what you mean there now maybe they can call me now and ask for advice or you know what I think about this thing about that I'm always around so Kobe Shaq got a statue and I imagine cool too and also talking to you it's on him you know through the last several years it seems to me that that was a situation where boy we didn't know what we had until it was gone like I'm never gonna let that guy was how do you feel about Shaq sitting here today him getting the statue the other day what are your thoughts of that Chevy happy for me you know got he won three championships here all right until in a row in a row so I was happy to see him and I got a chance to catch up with him a little bit out back and not only him but all the guys and all the guys that we played with it kind of revisit some old stories it's amazing how fast time flies I mean it's uh it's pretty pretty cool since I scored 60 yeah like I'll shoot with my kids but in terms of playing yeah you know that's you know you know whenever we speak it's amazing to me how you make no apologies for the fact that you really don't miss it anymore you put in your time it's enough enough you don't miss it it's rare that you hear that from somebody I know strange yeah it is straining yeah strange but but it's a it's a blessing I mean the the thing and when you grow up playing a game your whole life and this is which you identify yourself with the whole time it's very hard to find something else you know and I've been very fortunate and very blessed to have a passion that I love every bit as much as playing basketball mm-hmm and so when that happens I'm extremely fortunate but for the young guys coming up as you're going through your career it's important that you start looking for things that you are equally as passionate about because when they music stops and the game is over and just trying to figure it out after you're already too late it's interesting that you bring up the word passion because when I look at today's NBA game I see guys with great talent mm-hmm I see guys some guys with great passion but it's a lot of money in the game compared to what you know I mean it's a lot of money in the game let's just leave it at that when you do what you're do now with your storytelling and I asked a question about monitoring today's game and how that how that affects what you want to do what are you seeing when you watch today's game we got issues where we questioning God's getting rest taking rest etc etc I mean what do you see when you watch a game well I mean listen the the game has grown substantially the age of social media has really altered or grown the amount of opinions that we have available to the game so as a result you have a wide-ranging opinion on one issue which is fine but I think at the core of it all is the game itself so players are continuing to get better that's what's most important now in terms of the development of players I feel like that has completely gone backwards and it starts at a very very at the youth level and growing up through AAU and so forth for soil we're not teaching our kids the fundamentals of the game we're not teaching them how to think the game and that's a bigger issue all the other things that surround the game will come and go but the game itself is the Mobe is that really a bigger issue or you as an outlier like you had a very well-rounded game but not everyone did there were a lot of bums compared to you then just as there are now compared to the best players are you the old-timer now looking back and going in my day everyone knew the game that was just you or do you really think it's gone backwards in that way no it has I mean you know our development in USA basketball you just look at that on the surface and the difficulty in the challenges that we face and playing international competitions so when I grew up and growing up overseas in Italy I was very fortunate because I caught the teaching time in Europe so you know the red Holtzman's the Tex winners and all these great coaches at the time went over the Europe to teach coaches have coaching coaching clinics of how they train players so when I was growing up I caught the fundamentals of that game right how the sole Manu ginóbili no same thing and so you look at art the difficulty that we've have had an international competition is because these players learn how to play the game and think the game at all levels pal Gasol is just as comfortable handling the ball as using a pose Marcus all right you look at San Antonio Spurs and the way that they move the ball and so we have to do a better job developing a player you like we hear Jordan talk about LeBron or there was that article where Jordan's talking about how he's watching LeBron thinking how he'd defend him are you at the point yet where you look at the game now and it could the transition happened during this latter part if you're a career the baby you know 5 out and all this stuff and think if I was around today coming up today I would shoot more threes I would do what would would your game translate to today or do you think it would be adapted I don't know I don't even think about it you don't think about it no I don't I mean that's what you're Michael not really different in that in that aspect I look at the game now and I try to find moments of okay that actually may make a good story that I can put out there for kids to kind of understand or other athletes to understand then why so it's a little the only issue that I have with anything that you're saying is that you're dissecting it and you're being incredibly cerebral with it and I respect that my thing about it however is that when I look at a lot of today's players and I look at today's game that passion that we talk about matters and to me your greatest gift to me was your determination it was your will to beat you it was clear you put everyone on notice that you were striving to be the greatest ever and you did not apologize for it do you see that it's a days game cuz I don't well Russell and James certainly are apologetic about it - true alright so there are players out there like that Kyrie Irving isn't you either right so there's certain players out there that do that and that's perfectly fine Kobe what's your take on players though resting when healthy because I think you could do a nice story on that and tea and teach some lessons to the younger generation City opening jingle I kind of put it in there a little bit about oh no days off no time to rest but in terms of the integrity of the game or the competitiveness of the game well here's the problem the problem is for a family who spends their hard-earned money to come to watch their favorite players play and you know they show up and the players not playing that's the tough part you know I felt like if you could play you can play it you go out there and play if a coach said to you you're not playing would you have had an issue with it well yeah I've never been approached yeah my coach and ass need to rest I think they knew better than to me what resonates what resonates and I'm not gonna believe it is subject but what resonates to me about players sitting down it's one thing if you're not playing it's another thing when you announce to the world it's because of rest while you're dressed in street clothes chillin on the bench smiling and laughing with your teammates when the fans came to see you play and you're mark listen you can build your game differently right and I think you know one of the things I learned from MJ is the one second Knights to back to backs when it's fourth game five nights whatever case maybe the game would alter when you change his game a little bit I might be on a perimeter the first two games now I'm slide down to the post I'm gonna play a little closer to the basket I'll play off the ball a little bit more all right so there are ways where you can kind of alter your game where you can get rest within the game but still be efficient we we we I mean sell sports media through narratives through telling stories that's how people understand the world how would you tell the story in that case speaking of rest of when Dwight was traded to the Lakers and you had Steve Nash and POW and you guys were supposed to challenge for a title D'Antoni system wasn't working for the personnel you kind of took over the situation played 45 minutes a game or whatever it was willed the team into the playoffs in the second half but but the Achilles went and it reminded me of John Henry right he had to beat the steam drill but his body fell apart so what's the story there did I tell that story right or do you have a different story to tell I didn't see I probably uh Icarus comes to mind I think too close to the Sun on borrowed wings I mean you're trying you're going you're going you're going you're going I'm gonna borrow time got too close to the Sun and my Achilles popped hmm how about that and if your Achilles had and pop what do you imagine your career would have ended like heck if I though I'm just asking for an imagination I was just well I think they wind up being a blessing in the skies for me because when the Achilles tear happened it really woke me up in the sand okay your career could come to an end now then what are you gonna do I've been thinking and planning and planning and planning I say okay no now I need to start putting things into action I can't sit back passively because this can be over now and then what are you gonna do your Achilles pop when you were playing for Mike D'Antoni who was the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers at that time I wasn't too satisfied with the job he did in Los Angeles but I will tell you he's my coach of the year now in Houston he has been absolutely sensational can you talk about what you've been seeing whenever you've had an opportunity to see the this team play because I'm looking at the Houston Rockets as a potentially huge huge threat in the Western caucus well you know Mike was kind of dealt the wrong hand here with all the injuries that we've had we never had a chance to really get all the guys on the floor that he can coach and put him in positions to be successful so it was a tough situation for him and you stood with the personnel that he has it fits magically I think you know what he's found in Harden is a player that Steve Nash asked but bigger so now you can get into the paint get into the teeth of the defense you know what we always tried to do was Steve has put a bigger player on him when he gets into the paint just try to blanket him with the bigger player and stay home on shooters James can't do that because yeah sighs all right so now once he gets into the teeth of the defense you have to go get him which then opens up the other so I look at him as the heir apparent to you but I think about somebody like a Yahoo I obviously talk to and his favorite play in the world is Russell Westbrook he thinks Russell Westbrook reminds him of himself right we all should be fortunate that a I was in 65 actually I'm just asking you who's that that reminds you of you or who's your favorite player right now I mean there's their street I really enjoy watching you know Russell James quite Leonard I love watching that generation Kyrie I love watching them play I just love watching her play and quiet able to do and you know with the spots that he operates from or the Zach's exact same spots where I like to operate from you know the elbow the mid-post you know the one-two bump turning left shoulder fade turn right shoulder fee I'm not I love watching those guys play Kobe right now what's going on with LeBron I'm sure that you pay attention to him because that's really the guy who you passed the torch to unfortunately you guys never met up in the finals but all this resting and everything were really oftentimes we're talking about LeBron he's in the finals every year what is your feeling about where he is in his career right now and and and all that yeah that's the tough part is that when you miss a game there's that one kid out there that's not going to see his favorite player play okay now that being said LeBron has done so much for the game right so we need to give he's earned the opportunity to be able to take a rest he's earned that we can disagree with it we feel absolutely terrible for the kids that come in watching perform at the same time this man has been to a Finals pretty much every year for as long as I can remember he's done so much to elevate the game so he's earned the right for us to give him the benefit of the doubt is that is that something that ever crosses your mind or that you think about the fact that he wasn't on a good enough team to make the finals when you guys were dominant and then vice versa that you never got to link up in a Finals yeah I thought in 2009 was a great opportunity for that to happen I was hoping that was gonna happen it's great for the game unfortunately I didn't am you've earned the right to be considered one of the greatest ever there were times in your career where obviously people drew comparisons to Michael Jordan and then we all thought Michael Jordan was the goat then you were like I'm Kobe this is the way that it is and that's the way it's going to stay but you don't hesitate to remind folks look this is what I did when I play when either Ziva before you retire numerous coaches how you had to play point guard shoe God etc etc when you reflect on your career what's your standing in your mind what's the story that you tell you to yourself about yourself well did I give everything I absolutely had through this game yes I did right and so that is the most important thing the rankings all that stuff is inconsequential you know rankings come and go opinions change doesn't matter alright when you can look yourself in the mirror and say did I give everything I could that I'd do everything possible to try to get better if the answer is yes but don't you have an aspiration for people to see what you saw whatever that is like I remember one time you reminded me excuse me do you realize what I had to do this year when I didn't have XYZ you did pay attention to those kind of things well at the time yes you know as you mature and you get older you understand listen it's not about that it really isn't well what you do is you do what you can with what you have you know everybody's path has a different narrative right you try to walk yours to the best of your ability and let the let the dust settle we're men have you decided who's one of the title this year no I haven't I haven't to be completely honest with you I haven't been watching the league like that I mean I have so it's tough for me to say I mean I I see highlights here and there but I haven't really been following that closely to be able to give in a kind of educated response in case you missed it Devin Booker inspired by your path to dropping 70 and he said he was it was he saw an interview on you and felt like he could do that and go out there so clearly but they lost yes win and they were losing it see how it all comes full circle folks Kobe thank you so much for being here with us appreciate it it was fun looking forward to more content we can check that out on espn.com all of your work we have to leave it lay you guys I'm very proud of that I'm very proud of the work I'm proud of how he looks in the suit I like the new bid look very short white DAP I must confess like I said I value your opinion thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube for live-streaming sports and premium content subscribe to ESPN Plus

Channel: ESPN Throwback

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Id: SGR0sMHLizA

Length: 24min 22sec (1462 seconds)

Published: Thu May 14 2020