Mamba Mentality by Kobe Bryant with photos by Andrew D Bernstein

 When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my dad told me, “You have to learned about all the sports, because this will help you in dating and in life.” I took this advice very seriously. I studied the Dodgers, rooted for the Rams and cheered the Los Angeles Lakers to every one of Magic, Kareem, Kobe and Shaq’s championships.. So, when that helicopter went down on January 26, 2020, I knew that the world lost one of the greatest basketball players it had ever seen. Over the course of his 29-year-career, Kobe played every season with the L.A. Lakers, winning five NBA championship rings. “Mamba Mentality: How I Play” is a gorgeous book full of colorful photographs by Andrew D. Bernstein along with Kobe’s words. He shares his thoughts on the game, the players and coaches he worked with, as well as the opponents whom he fought against. His philosophy was that you have two hands, so you need to learn to use both. When he was younger he started brushing his teeth with his left hand to make it as strong as his dominant right hand. When he was a Laker he found out his ankles needed strengthening, so he took up the best activity to strengthen them: tap dancing. And, while others were designing traditional, high-top basketball shoes, he designed a low-top version to give basketball players more flexibility. With four daughters at home, he even found a way to work out when they were sleeping. He designed midnight workouts for himself so he could train after he put his girls to bed. He details how he played through injuries, and studied his opponents plotting different choreography for each one. You can tell by his words that he not only liked playing the game, but also hoped to teach the game for many years to come. What a loss for all of those players who could have studied under him. “Mamba Mentality” is his legacy to the sport that he loved so much, and his strength and determination resonate from every page. To buy this book on Amazon click here.