Transcription
You know, we, we get caught up in this world in debates and who is the greatest and loved to judge people, and off the court and on the court decisions. I think a lot of times we forget about who people are. And I know for me, I had a defining moment in my life that he, he pushed me in the right direction. And for somebody who's a new father, who has a baby girl, and I'm not gonna say prayers and condolences because I don't even, I don't know how you capture this moment, man. I know everybody's coming out with a Kobe Bryant story, and that's fine. But he is just, he was one of the most special individuals I've ever met. And it wasn't just his on the court performance, it was who he wanted to be, how he held himself. And we're all prone to make mistakes, we all lived this life. But his innate character, his, his being, his spirit was incredible. It was just incredible. And it's rare that I've been around a lot of people in my life. And you know, every time I was around him, if that was what do the players tribune and allows through as a player, or that was two random workouts, there's something so damn uplifting about him. It just made you want to be better in every aspect of your life because that's who he was. And that's the standard of excellence that he held himself to all the time. And today's just so really, today's a tough day, today's a hard day. And I hope that everybody at home, you give that person next to you, whatever thing you have wrong in your life with them, if this might be small or big, let them go. Doesn't matter. I know I curse, I'm sorry. It's okay. None of this stuff matters, man. This is a, it's about life and being precious with every damn second we have here. Because from somebody who knows who almost happened to me like that, man, is just over. It's done. Randomly, randomly, or cheerily. And you know, his for girls and his wife, we, we need to come around them and support them and help them. And the NBA should cancel all games today. However, I know what else to say. Yeah, we should mention there are eight games in the NBA today. It appears as though at least the Rockets Nuggets game is going off because they did hold a moment of silence, a moment of prayer, in a sense, before they tipped off this afternoon to eulogize and to remember one of the greatest players that's ever picked up a basketball. I know he impacted your life personally, professionally, way beyond the game. And you can answer this from a basketball perspective or beyond. What separated Kobe Bryant's from other people?
You know, so my rookie year, I only played one year in the league. And my rookie year, we're planning gets the championship Lakers. And it's Kobe, Shaq, that squad. And I remember I was in a slump, wasn't playing well, I was getting sidetracked throughout the season doing things I shouldn't be doing. And you know, pumped up about playing this plainness got here. And I got to the Staples Center early that day, around two o'clock to three, to shoot and get 400 made shots. And you know, I walk in with the ball boy and I'm putting on my sneakers. And who do I see? I see Kobe Bryant working out so hard, like game-like moves. And watching him, like, all right, thank you. You know, that's my motivation for the day. That's great. I get a chance to work out when Kobe Bryant's working out. And I go and I do my workout. And I work out for about an hour, hour and fifteen minutes. And I go back on the sidelines and I laced my shoes. And I keep hearing the ball bounce. I look down and this guy's still going. He's still going. And still the same type of moves that I saw him going from the moment I walked in the gym. And I sat there and watched him for 10 minutes. And then I left. I was like, there's no way this guy's gonna be able to have enough energy to play against us tonight. And that night, he just, he just destroyed us. He destroyed us in every facet of the game. And I remember after the whole game was over, I was like, don't be that cheesy dude. Don't ask another man, like another guy, like where that drive comes from. But I couldn't help myself. I, I saw him out and I, I found him. I said, you know, like, whoa, why, why'd you stay keep working out? And this line changed my life as a person. He said, because I saw you coming to the gym. And I want you to know that no matter how hard you worked, you weren't gonna outwork me. And it was one of those things where I was sitting there saying, like, who am I? Who am I? But that's just how he was. Gusset cloth, he was cut from. That's who he was. Every day in every facet of his life. You know, if it was him trying to be better, coming up with cartoons, the animated series that went in, had him Oscar. It was him trying to be better as a person. You know, like, I don't know every aspect about Kobe. But I know how he touched me in my life. And that moment right there was, I know my career in short, but I carry that in everything I do. Like that's, that's how I attack my life. And if it's with my wife, being a better husband, if it's with my daughter, being a better dad, if it's with work, how do I work more? How do I work better? How to work more efficiently? That's a huge part of who I am because of that moment. And I can never thank him enough for that.
Your words have been incredibly poignant. To San Antonio Spurs are gonna tip off in nine minutes. I would imagine the last Gregg Popovich, who's had his great tools with Kobe over the years, to talk about it after the game. As I mentioned, eight games in the Association today. The Lakers will not play today or tomorrow. They will play the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center on Tuesday night. And you can only imagine the amount of emotion that might be welling up in that building. Last thing for you, Jay. Like yourself, he was a father, a husband. Kobe was an NBA legend. He was even an Academy Award winner. On and off the court, you seemingly know him very well from the comments you've just given. Kobe Bryant's legacy will be, I don't know how to to find the greatness in his legacy. It's, it's one of those things that you, it can't be put into words. You had to be around him to feel it. It spoke for itself. It was this aura that he had around him. You didn't need to hear somebody paraphrase it. Or it was greatness, man. Simply playing. I can't explain greatness. Thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube. For more sports highlights and analysis, be sure to download the ESPN app. And for live streaming sports and premium content, subscribe to ESPN Plus.