Keeping in line with the Lakers theme of our last blog post, we're doing a birthday celebration for the fiercest competitor ever to don a Lakers jersey—the late Kobe Bryant.
Kobe was born on the 23rd of August, 1978, which means he would have turned 43 years old today. A stark reminder that he was still so young and had so much more life to live. But when deciding to celebrate 'Mamba Month', the team and I collectively agreed that we didn't want to mourn his death. Instead, we want to celebrate his action-packed life! So let's get started!
Realistically, instead of an article, we could write a 24-chapter book about how Kobe impacted the sports world and beyond. So when tasked with writing just a short piece, I'm not going to lie; it was a struggle. That is until it all hit me!
As I sit here in Victoria, currently in lockdown for the 6th time in who knows how many months, with no light at the end of the tunnel, I thought to myself, what would Kobe do? What kind of different perspective could I personally have if I adopted the "Mamba Mentality" in moments like these? And just like that, everything changed.
One of Kobe Bryants strongest and most dominant forces (if not the most) was his control over his mind. Control over his thoughts! If Kobe were here with us, he would not be sitting around watching Netflix eating doughnuts! He would be taking advantage of this incredible opportunity that we've been given—a 'forced timeout' if you will, and he'd be working on his craft! This is a guy who had the discipline to go to practice and take one thousand shots from the same spot, all because he missed the game-winner the night before.
It's easy to play the victim. It's easy to ask silly questions like 'why me?' or 'when will this end?'. Blaming the government for forcing us to be bored at home. But is that what Kobe would be doing? Hell no!
His Mamba Mentality would keep him working. Keep him focused! In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he would love it. And that's what I want to celebrate with you today!
It's well known that Kobe would wake up at 4 am to get his first workout in. But it didn't stop there! He'd then be back in the gym from 9 to 11 am, then again, 2 till 4 pm, and one last time at 7 - 9 pm. Why did he do this? Because he knew everyone else's schedules, and they weren't working anywhere near as hard. And if he did, it would increase the gap that separated him from 100% of all other athletes he was competing against!
So whether you're an athlete, business owner, or a casual, part-time/full-time employee—let's all take a page out of Kobe's book and use this time to separate the gap and stay motivated! And we're here to help give you a little nudge.
We're giving away 24x 2020 Laker championship ring replicas in honour of Kobe and his incredible work ethic. All you have to do is share our post on Instagram or Facebook and comment how you're personally staying focused and separating the gap by using a 'Mamba Mentality' to get through these lockdowns/uncertain times. It's that simple!
We'll be announcing our top 24 favourites on the 7th September, 2021.
In the words of Kobe Bean Bryant:
"Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all
an opportunity for me to rise."
Happy Birthday, champion!
Image source: Inc Magazine