The Mamba Mentality: How I Play

For Bryant, craft is the implementation of physical training, film study, accumulated knowledge, and cultivated insight as he applied it to real time game play. The “Craft” section of The Mamba Mentality is largely devoted to concrete, visual examples provided to the reader alongside which Bryant explains the conditions depicted in the accompanying images. As he examines his interactions with his teammates and opponents, Bryant reveals the elements that constitute his craft. The first element is the way that he trained himself to adapt not only to his surroundings, depending upon who and where the Lakers were playing, but also to the way his body was feeling and to the assumptions made about him by opposing players and coaches. After being injured early on in his career, Bryant intentionally taught himself to become as competent with his left side as he was with his right, maintaining consistent strength so that he could switch his methods as necessary. In so doing, Bryant could adjust in the moment while on the court without worrying about how successful he would be. Second is utilization of the information he gathered about those he played and those on his team. He understood what individual players would do in each situation, how they might cooperate with others, and what might be a reasonable prediction of their next move. Having that information beforehand allowed Bryant to make assessments in the moment which could be used to his advantage. He gives examples of certain players who used their body length or width or agility to try to best him, and how he calculated when they might do that so that he could prepare to circumvent that strategy. Craft, for Bryant, was about focusing on the game with the confidence bolstered by the thoroughness of his preparation, so that he could integrate his physical, intellectual, and interpersonal skills in the moment to work seamlessly for him and allow him to react instinctively.

Amidst negative press associated with legal troubles involving charges of sexual assault, which were subsequently dropped, Bryant watched the Quentin Tarantino Film Kill Bill. In it, Uma Thurman plays an assassin named Beatrix Kiddo whose code name is Black Mamba. Beatrix Kiddo’s nickname is a reference to a deadly snake native to the continent of Africa, a serpent known for its speed, agility, and the lethality of its venom. Bryant was inspired by this character’s tenacity and ruthlessness, and he was seeking a way to differentiate between his identity on the court and the discussion of his character in the media. He nicknamed himself “The Black Mamba,” which was quickly adopted by the public.

Later, while composing a tweet, Bryant liked the sound of the phrase “Mamba Mentality” as a reference to his practical approach on the court and in life. He used the hashtag without considering that it might gain popularity, but it immediately began trending. Bryant was pleased to see that others were responding positively to it, particularly when it appeared in reference to realms outside basketball, like the worlds of finance and business. He appreciated that a conversation had begun around the concept, and that others were finding inspiration and motivation from writing and interacting with tweets in the hashtag. When asked to define it during an interview, Bryant said it was about being the best version of oneself. In writing The Mamba Mentality, Bryant takes the opportunity to organize and articulate his philosophy in a way that makes it accessible to others and potentially applicable in their own lives.

In Bryant’s definition of the term, obsession is the characteristic that delineates the difference between greatness and mediocrity. He insists that to truly excel in one’s area of pursuit, one must be obsessed with whatever one is setting out to conquer. It is this obsession, this genuine, intense interest that will propel the person to drive persistently toward excelling and developing their skills and earning recognition and esteem in their field and in the minds of those who are in a position to distinguish the exceptional from the unremarkable. Bryant acknowledges the significant sacrifices one must make, particularly with respect to how much time, energy, and attention must be devoted toward their pursuit and therefore away from one’s family and friends in order to put in the work required to pull ahead of those who cannot or will not make the same difficult choices.

When Bryant decided to retire after the 2015-2016 NBA season, he said it was a process of recognizing that the drive he had felt as a young man, and over the course of the 20 years of his career was waning, largely because of the fulfillment he had found in all that he had achieved as a Los Angeles Laker. He continued to participate in the world of basketball that he loved, through charitable efforts focused on athletic development for young people, and in coaching his daughter’s team. However, he retired from playing because he knew that his obsession was no longer compelling him to achieve, and that without it he could not continue.

Bryant defines his process as the act of engaging with those activities that enabled him to perform on the court to the highest possible standard. Process for him was the deliberate pursuit of preparedness, and the intelligent use of his time respective to what he was learning about himself and his environment. Components of Bryant’s process were varied to encompass a broad range of continued development geared toward his constant desire to improve his game, and his process was largely defined by the way he used his time strategically. As a new recruit, while his fellow players would go out in the evenings to explore the cities in which they were playing away games, Bryant would isolate himself in his hotel room alone, studying game tape to review his own performances and those of his upcoming opponents. He adopted the habit of arriving early to practices so that he could embrace the opportunity to work out in the gym or drill on the court alone so that he could hone his focus. He curtailed his workouts and his personal training sessions to directly address his body’s needs at the time and navigate around injuries which might threaten to affect his playing ability. Bryant credits his success on the court to the way his process allowed him to act instinctively and intuitively, harnessing the knowledge he acquired and relying on physical care for himself in key moments which required him to act quickly.

For Bryant, the idea of a routine did not mean adhering to the same regimented litany of workouts, drills, practices, etcetera. Bryant always adjusted the specifics of how he approached his pre- and post-game routine based upon feedback he received from his body and his performances on the court. Instead of thinking of his routine as a regimented, prescriptive set of actions that he had to perform, i.e., a certain set of weight training sessions targeting certain areas of his body, or a certain amount of time spent icing or heating specific joints, his routine meant maintaining consistency in commitment and diligence with respect to pursuing his goals. Each day, he would report to the arena where he would be playing, practicing, or both, and address areas of his game, whether they be physical or intellectual, that he thought could benefit most from his close attention. The routine for Bryant was not about conforming to a rigid schedule which may or may not serve him, but about remaining faithful to a consistent time commitment and using his time wisely to evaluate and customize his activities according to his needs.