Mamba Mentality Lives On : Kobe Bryant Tribute

The devastation that has been left to the world after the tragedy of losing such a motivational icon is hard to grasp. The impact felt was not only from your deep-rooted basketball fans but from your non-athletes; they are all feeling the loss of a truly inspiring individual. Kobe was more than a basketball player. His legacy is known for his dedication to excellence on and off the court, in which any person could admire and wish to emulate in their own life. His invincible character and sheer mental fortitude supported his prominent career.

Many people who follow Kobe are familiar with his alter-ego the “Black Mamba”, hence, where the “Mamba Mentality” originated. This mantra that Kobe created, allowed him to make a change in his career when it wasn’t going the way he wanted it to. Kobe’s alter-ego name idea to be known as the “Black Mamba” on the court was from the movie “Kill Bill." He was drawn to the nature of a snake and how they shed their own skin to allow further growth (hence, him growing out of his old self). The mamba snake was also referred to as the deadly assassins in the movie which he found in relation to eliminating his competition, raising the bar, and carrying a “kill everything” mentality to succeed in the game.

In his autobiography, he discusses the power of obsession and says:

“If you want to be great in a particular area, you have to obsess over it. A lot of people say they want to be great, but they're not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve greatness. They have other concerns, whether important or not, and they spread themselves out.”

It took a hard point in Kobe’s life to reassess his personal and professional vision which ultimately brought him to this ability to realign his focus and achieve greatness with the Mamba Mentality. The true benefit of this philosophy is that it is beneficial to anyone who wants to actualize it.

Kobe’s hyperfocus on his pursuit of greatness and the creation of the “Mamba Mentality” allows his legacy to live on and continue to inspire others to pay it forward to their own lives and write their own story with extra passion and dedication.

He will continue to be an inspiration to us all we would like to leave you with a few of his many motivational quotes to live by:

“I create my own path. It was straight and narrow. I looked at it this way: you were either in my way or out of it. If you were standing between me and the game, I was going to knock you on your back and not feel bad about it. I was unapologetically me. That’s all I ever wanted to be. I was never worried about my reputation – that’s how I earned one.”

“Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged. You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smiles and just keep on rolling.”

“Leadership is lonely… I’m not going to be afraid of confrontation to get us to where we need to go. There’s a big misconception where people think winning or success comes from everybody putting their arms around each other and singing kumbaya and patting them on the back when they mess up, and that’s just not reality. If you are going to be a leader, you are not going to please everybody. You have to hold people accountable. Even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable.”

“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do.”

Your Mamba Mentality Lives On.