He thought it would be the beginning of a flawless journey to becoming the star NBA player that we all know today – especially because his father, Joe Bryant, played in the NBA for 8 years before playing his final 6 years in Italy.
During those 6 years in Italy, the Bryant family fully embraced the culture. This included Kobe playing soccer for most of his youth and showing a lot of promise in the sport.
But in the summer of 1991, his family moved back to America and Kobe finally had a chance to play his father’s favorite game.
He entered the camp and played against some of the most talented youngsters in the country – and they embarrassed him. Bryant did not score a single point. Not one jumper, not one layup, not even one free throw. Nothing.
He spent that entire summer in frustration – questioning whether basketball was really for him. He was, after all, a promising soccer player – so why dream of becoming a basketball player when he clearly had no talent for it?
Then Kobe read about one of his heroes, Michael Jordan. He learned how Michael got cut from his high school basketball team but didn’t quit. Getting cut motivated Michael to outwork everyone around him to prove his coach wrong.
When Kobe learned this, a fire was created inside of him that would never be put out. He wanted to work harder than everyone else for the rest of his basketball career – and he did.
When Kobe entered high school, he got to the gym every day at 5 am and would not leave the afternoon practice until 7 pm!
After the official practice was over, he convinced his teammates to play one-on-one games with him up to 100 points.
He singled out any player that could help him improve his skills and forced them to challenge him.
This relentless work ethic over his high school career turned him into one of the best players in the country. So good, in fact, that just 6 years after he failed to score a single point in basketball camp, Kobe was drafted 13th overall in the NBA.
But his work ethic didn’t stop there. He pushed himself even harder as an NBA player.
He practiced by himself, sometimes even without a ball, hours before his teammates showed up to the gym.
He forced himself to make 400 shots every single practice. He put himself through 4 hours of intense workouts on game days!
He completely cut out sugar and had one of the strictest diets in the NBA.
And he continued to force teammates to stay after practice to face him one-on-one.
Some NBA players love to play under the bright lights of the arena, but Kobe Bryant loved to put in the work before the lights even came on – then stay long after they were turned off. [2]
All of this work led Kobe to become one of the greatest basketball players of all time. All of which happened despite the fact that, as a 12-year old, he showed the least amount of promise of anyone in that basketball camp!
Clearly it was not an innate talent that helped Kobe Bryant reach his extraordinary success, it was his sheer ferocity of will.
This proves that if someone followed Kobe Bryant’s path, he could reach the same level of success.
There is nothing preventing another boy entering his first year of high school from getting to the gym at 5 am and practicing until 7 pm.
There is nothing stopping him from recognizing areas of weakness in his game and working relentlessly to improve them.
There is nothing stopping him from following a strict diet or doing intense 4-hour workouts on game days.
Nor is there anything stopping him from meticulously counting 400 made shots every single day.
All of these practices are within the control of anyone. This means achieving the level of success of Kobe Bryant is also within the control of anyone!
So why aren’t more people as successful as Kobe Bryant?
Because following his path is hard, painful, and boring. It requires something more than simply knowing what to do. It requires the one thing that truly separates those who achieve greatness from everyone else – willpower.