Kobe Discussion: Clash of the Titus! (671)

KareemTheGreat33 wrote:We will all miss his greatness when he retires 10 years from now

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:Kobe is doing great offensively, but people frequently ignore that he's not a good defender anymore and that's half the game. You need to be leading a historically good offense (a la 05 Nash) to be an MVP candidate in order to compensate for bad defense.

Hi r/NBA, my name is Robert and I'm an athletic trainer. This is my Kobe Bryant work ethic story.
submitted 18 hours ago* by RobertAlert

I've been a professional athletic trainer for about 16 years and have been able to work with a range of athletes from the high school to professional level. Right now I run in a clinic in Cincinnati and have most recently been training with some players on the Bengals.

I activated my reddit account just a moment ago and because I've been seeing the videos of Kobe's most recent dunks and the comments you guys have had to share I decided I might as well chime in what I know about the man. And let me just state by saying that this story doesn't touch on anything we don't know about Kobe but rather that he simply is not human when he is working on his craft.

I was invited to Las Vegas this past Summer to help Team USA with their conditioning before they head off to London, and as we know they would eventually bring home the Gold (USA). I've had the opportunity to work with Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade in the past but this would be my first interaction with Kobe. We first met three days before the first scrimmage, on the day of the first practice, early July. It was a brief conversation where we talked about conditioning, where he would like to be by the end of the Summer, and we talked a little bit about the hustle of the Select Team. Then he got my number and I let him know that if he ever wanted some extra training he could hit me up any time.

The night before the first scrimmage I remember I was just watched "Casablanca" for the first time and it was about 3:30 AM. I lay in bed, slowly fading away when I hear my cell ring. It was Kobe. I nervously picked up.

"Hey, uhh Rob, I hope I'm not disturbing anything right?"

"Uhh no, what's up Kob?"

"Just wondering if you could just help me out with some conditioning work, that's all."

I checked my clock. 4:15 AM.

"Yeah sure, I'll see you in the facility in a bit."

It took me about twenty minutes to get my gear and out of the hotel. When I arrived and opened the room to the main practice floor I saw Kobe. Alone. He was drenched in sweat as if he had just taken a swim. It wasn't even 5AM.

We did some conditioning work for the next hour and fifteen minutes. Then we entered the weight room, where he would do a multitude of strength training exercises for the next 45 minutes. After that we parted ways and he went back to the practice floor to shoot. I went back to the hotel and crashed. Wow.

I was expected to be at the floor again at about 11 AM. I woke up feeling sleepy, drowsy, and almost pretty much every side effect of sleep deprivation. Thanks, Kobe. I had a bagel and headed to the practice facility.

This next part I remember very vividly. All the Team USA players were there, feeling good for the first scrimmage. LeBron was talking to Carmelo if I remember correctly and Coach Krzyzewski was trying to explain something to Kevin Durant. On the right side of the practice facility was Kobe by himself shooting jumpers. And this is how our next conversation went -- I went over to him, patted him on the back and said, "Good work this morning."

"Huh?"

"Like, the conditioning. Good work."

"Oh. Yeah, thanks Rob. I really appreciate it."

"So when did you finish?"

"Finish what?"

"Getting your shots up. What time did you leave the facility?"

"Oh just now. I wanted 800 makes so yeah, just now."

My jaw dropped. Mother of holy God. It was then that I realized that there's no surprise to why he's been as effective as he was last season. Every story about his dedication, every quote that he's said about hard work all came together and hit me like a train. It's no surprise to me now that he's dunking on players ten years younger than him and it wasn't a surprise to me earlier this year when he led the league in scoring.

Thanks for reading and allowing me to share you my Kobe Bryant story. If anyone has any questions I can clarify. Sorry if the story was at all hard to follow as this is my first time on reddit.

-Rob.

puffyusaf#2 wrote:

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:Kobe is doing great offensively, but people frequently ignore that he's not a good defender anymore and that's half the game. You need to be leading a historically good offense (a la 05 Nash) to be an MVP candidate in order to compensate for bad defense.

I actually have no idea what the hell you are talking about. Kobe isn't the level defender he use to be (All 1st team NBA) but he is far from "not good." The dude gambles (always has) and he leaves his man open constantly (always has) but when he needs to lock down someone more often than not he does. In any case, I have no idea how that has to do with Kobe making an MVP case.

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:He still gambles every game even though he fails 99% of the time, but he's doing a better job of not leaving shooters now at least. His man defense is still solid as well, but he can be so lazy at times that I can't imagine how his mates can tolerate it. Overall I don't think he impacts the game defensively enough to call him a good defender anymore, I would say he's barely average.

Jazzygirl205 wrote:All this praise and 1 MVP ain't that something?

Cleansed wrote:

2. When talk turns to this season’s NBA MVP, the names brought up quickest are those of Miami’s LeBron James, OKC’s Kevin Durant and New York’s Carmelo Anthony. All are having phenomenal seasons and would be deserving winners. But if the Lakers make the playoffs, it would be an injustice if Bryant didn’t win it. He has done everything he could to keep the team from collapsing through coaching changes, injuries, bad basketball and reported locker room disagreements. He has taken on different roles for the Lakers all season long — not just for a game or two. Early on he was leading the league in scoring, then became the de facto point guard when it made the team better. He’s also been the defensive stopper, definitely a team leader, and sometimes all of the above roles in the same game. Said head coach Mike D’Antoni: “I don’t even want to think about where we’d be without Kobe doing what he’s done for us.” Actually, coach, you wouldn’t have to think about it — your season would already be over. And is there any better definition of an MVP?

http://www.foxsportswest.com/03/03/13/Lakers-Hawks-500-Kobe-Bryant-playoff-cha/landing_lakers.html?blockID=873355&feedID=8686

Coach Chris wrote:Guys from 8th seeded teams don't win MVP.

therealdeal wrote:The crazy thing is on the radio this morning I heard Cowherd saying "Wade is probably the best SG in the game right now too since he plays both ways, definitely a Top 5 guy".

So two Top 5 guys on the team doesn't change the way people view the success of their team? I mean, what's the f***ing criteria here? In 2007 it was the man that meant most to his team, right? That was their excuse to not give it to the best basketball player in the game?

Now it's the best basketball player in the game, not the guy who means most to his team so that LeBron can get it.

What a ridiculous travesty. The media should be ashamed.

Jazzygirl205 wrote:All this praise and 1 MVP ain't that something?