45 pages • 1 hour read
Kobe BryantThe Mamba Mentality: How I Play
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
AfterwordChapter Summaries & Analyses
Afterword Summary
The Afterword to The Mamba Mentality is written by Andrew S. Bernstein, the photographer whose images are featured exclusively throughout the book, and who, as the official photographer of the Los Angeles Lakers, knew Bryant from the very beginning of his career. Bernstein recalls that, even as a young teenager, Bryant showed the tenacious, inquisitive nature that the player describes as an enduring trait he recognized in himself. It was Bernstein who took Bryant’s rookie headshot when he was drafted to the Lakers as a 17-year-old. Bernstein describes Bryant in his early years as a “hot head,” but like Jackson shares in the Introduction, Bernstein remarks on the maturation that transformed Bryant as he focused his ambition, honed his skills, and developed into a mentor for his peers. Bernstein believes that The Mamba Mentality is the ideal extension of the influence that Bryant had over his fellow teammates while he was playing with the NBA, as the book makes his wisdom and insight even more available to a wider audience.
Bernstein’s address to the reader at the close of the book includes a reference to Bryant’s kindness and empathy, specifically as it was witnessed by Bernstein when the photographer accompanied Bryant at almost every game, both home and away, and as he met with children and their families for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Afterword Analysis
It could be said that Bernstein followed Bryant’s career more closely than anyone else, not only because he was on the sidelines observing him directly, but because he and Bryant spent 20 years as a part of the Lakers’ family together. The uniqueness of Bryant’s tenure with the Lakers, and the fact that Bernstein was assigned to the Lakers for so long, meant that Bernstein’s thousands of images of Bryant comprise a complete catalog of his entire career. It is fitting that so many of his photos exclusively grace the pages of the book. The dimensions of The Mamba Mentality, a hardcover of 9” x 11” with glossy pages, make the photos accessible and discernable for the reader.
Bernstein makes mention of the Make-a-Wish meet and greets that Bryant participated in after almost every game. In his short afterword, it was this example that he chose to use to communicate Bryant’s character to the reader; he depicts a person who quietly made consistent efforts to use his recognition for good. Make-a-Wish is a national organization connecting children with life-threatening illnesses with experiences that would mean the most to them. That Bryant appeared for meet-and-greet sessions with these children and their families after almost every game he played, whether those games concluded in the Lakers’ favor or not, speaks not only to Bryant’s desire to provide comfort and happiness to sick children, but to the idea that Bryant had such an impression on so many young fans that they so frequently asked to meet him as their chosen wish. It was important to Bernstein for the reader to see such a confident and seemingly unstoppable player as the man of compassion and warmth that the photographer knew him to be.
