Valuetainment - Episode 375： Kobe Bryant Untold Stories with Patrick Bet-David

00:00:00.000 30 seconds, one time for the underdog, ignition sequence start, let me see you put em up, reach

00:00:09.240 the sky, touch the stars up above, cause it's one time for the underdog, one time for the

00:00:16.220 underdog.

00:00:17.300 I'm Patrick Bedeb, your host of Alutainment, and today we're sitting down with the five

00:00:20.920 time NBA champion, the greatest Laker of all time, some may say, matter of fact, many will

00:00:26.080 say, and that's none other than Kobe Black Mamba Bryant.

00:00:30.720 All right.

00:00:33.900 Now, this is a company.

00:00:36.180 This is a company?

00:00:36.900 This is a company.

00:00:39.500 It's awesome, wonderful.

00:00:46.380 So, you know, one of the things most of you guys don't know, we were in the back, Mario

00:00:51.100 was asking me a question.

00:00:52.800 Mario asked me a question, he says, what do you think about when you think about Kobe?

00:00:57.040 And I said, the first thing that comes to my mind is my dad.

00:00:59.380 He says, why your dad?

00:01:01.280 I said, because, you know, he's born August 23rd, 78.

00:01:07.420 Yeah.

00:01:07.800 I'm October 1878, so you're six and a half, seven weeks older than me.

00:01:11.640 Right.

00:01:11.860 So, when he came to the Laker, I've been a diehard Laker fan since, you know, 1990 when

00:01:17.880 I came to the States from Iran.

00:01:20.540 And I'll never forget this.

00:01:22.000 We would sit there and watch the game together.

00:01:23.640 My dad and I would watch you play.

00:01:25.080 And one day, Lakers are playing against the 76ers, and it's game one.

00:01:31.940 If you know my dad, you know he's had a lot of heart attacks.

00:01:36.420 We're watching game one.

00:01:39.060 Iverson hits the shot over...

00:01:41.420 Ty Lue.

00:01:41.920 Ty Lue, right?

00:01:42.460 Yeah, yeah.

00:01:44.080 Game ends, they win the first game.

00:01:46.220 My dad gets up and my dad says, Patrick, take me to the hospital.

00:01:49.980 We went straight to the hospital because he was having heart issues.

00:01:53.080 So, that's how much we go back watching you grow up.

00:01:55.320 You know, watching you play.

00:01:56.180 It was amazing doing what you did for one organization for 20 years.

00:01:59.520 But, you know, before we get into it, before we get into it and kind of talk about what you're

00:02:03.500 working on today and some of the mental toughness stuff here, if I was in high school with you,

00:02:08.740 if I was in high school with you, outside of your game, outside of you playing ball,

00:02:14.220 who was Kobe Bryant as an individual and personality in high school?

00:02:17.520 If we were in high school together.

00:02:19.980 Much the same that I am now, actually, which is extremely curious.

00:02:24.500 Extremely curious.

00:02:25.360 I had a great teacher in high school.

00:02:27.000 Her name is Jane Mastriano, who I'm still very close to.

00:02:30.720 And she sparked my curiosity in writing.

00:02:33.820 And the reason why I felt it was important at the time was not for the writing sake,

00:02:39.040 not for storytelling purposes, but there are things in story, inherently in story,

00:02:43.920 that can help me be a better basketball player, be a better teammate, a better leader,

00:02:49.980 understand emotions better.

00:02:51.700 So that's why I got into it, into storytelling, actually.

00:02:54.640 So it was just insanely curious, man.

00:02:57.100 And, you know, trivial things weren't going to pull my attention.

00:03:01.740 It had to be things weren't going to pull my attention.

00:03:03.880 It had to be things that were, I had a purpose.

00:03:06.340 I wanted to be one of the best basketball players to ever play.

00:03:10.140 And anything else that was outside of that lane, I didn't have time for.

00:03:14.920 At what age did that goal become crystal clear?

00:03:17.800 I made that deal with myself at 13 years old.

00:03:20.660 At 13 years old?

00:03:21.720 13 years old.

00:03:22.320 That's the deal I made.

00:03:23.060 You were crystal clear about it?

00:03:23.640 Crystal clear.

00:03:24.520 And where did inspiration come from?

00:03:25.900 The love of the game.

00:03:28.840 The love of the game.

00:03:29.880 The challenge.

00:03:30.620 Like, I would watch Magic play.

00:03:32.260 I'd watch Michael play.

00:03:34.120 And I would see them do these unbelievable things.

00:03:36.120 And I'd say, you know, can I get to that level?

00:03:39.680 I don't know, but let's find out.

00:03:42.580 Let's find out.

00:03:43.680 And so that curiosity to see where I could push this thing led me down that path, I think.

00:03:49.040 Led you down that path?

00:03:49.940 I think so.

00:03:50.380 Now, were you always competitive from the day you were born, you were super competitive?

00:03:56.180 Uh, competitive with things that I, I participate in.

00:04:00.580 So, like, I'll put it to you this way.

00:04:01.940 So, like, you know, Michael is competitive in all things.

00:04:07.600 Things that don't make sense.

00:04:09.780 Right?

00:04:09.920 Think pong.

00:04:10.620 Yeah.

00:04:11.000 It's just, you know, you know what I'm saying?

00:04:12.340 So, like, he would try to get me to play golf all the time.

00:04:15.620 Mike, I know about you.

00:04:17.880 I've written books report about you in, like, elementary school.

00:04:21.060 Like, I know you started playing golf when you were in Carolina. 0.98

00:04:24.040 So, that means if I'm doing the math, you've been playing golf for, like, a hundred fucking years. 0.96

00:04:30.000 Um, I have not picked up a golf club. 0.98

00:04:33.360 Ever?

00:04:33.920 Ever.

00:04:34.260 The last thing you're going to do is get me on a golf course and annihilate me.

00:04:38.460 Not going to do it.

00:04:40.020 You've never picked up a golf club?

00:04:41.180 No.

00:04:41.480 I did it one time, and I was hitting, like, 400-yard grounders.

00:04:45.140 Grounders. 1.00

00:04:45.740 And so it got my competitiveness going.

00:04:48.160 Like, I got to learn this game.

00:04:49.140 But then I broke my finger during that year, and then I couldn't play much, and that was it.

00:04:53.420 So, the one thing when I see with you, and I think about, like, brain, and I think focus.

00:04:59.060 Like, you know how so many different things brain can get distracted on, and I'm going to put focus on this, and focus on this, and focus on this.

00:05:05.400 Do you think one of the edge you had over everybody else was the biggest percentage of your focus was on one thing?

00:05:11.980 Do you see it that way?

00:05:13.080 Like, that was my edge over everybody else.

00:05:14.580 I do.

00:05:16.480 At the time, I didn't really understand that.

00:05:19.680 Right?

00:05:19.960 So, you know, basketball for me was the most important thing.

00:05:25.440 So, everything I saw, whether it was TV shows, whether it was books I read, people I talked to, everything was done to try to learn how to become a better basketball player.

00:05:36.780 Everything.

00:05:37.640 Everything.

00:05:37.960 And so, when you have that point of view, then literally the world becomes your library to help you to become better at your craft.

00:05:46.240 The world becomes your library to help you improve your craft, better your craft.

00:05:50.880 Yes.

00:05:51.020 Yes, indeed.

00:05:51.440 So, because you know what you want, the world's giving you exactly the information.

00:05:55.320 100%.

00:05:55.660 You need to become better at it.

00:05:56.400 Because you know what you're looking for.

00:05:59.620 So, would you, when you, when you size your peers up, how do you size your peers up?

00:06:03.140 Like, if you're sizing people, I'm talking, you're 13 years old, you're sizing peers up, what lens are you looking through your peers?

00:06:09.160 So, at 13 years old, I had a, I had a kill list.

00:06:15.220 And so, you know, they used to do these rankings, it was Street and Smith basketball rankings.

00:06:20.700 And I was nowhere to be found, because I was like 6'4", scrawny, like 160 pounds, soaking wet.

00:06:27.340 So, I was like 57 on the list.

00:06:30.540 And so, I would look at 56, 55, all the way up to number one, who these players are, what club teams they played for.

00:06:37.660 So, when we go on an AAU travel circuit, I got to hunt them down, right?

00:06:43.300 And so, that became my mission in high school, is to check off every other person, all those 56 other names, hunt them down, and knock them down.

00:06:53.180 That was it.

00:06:53.900 Got a target on them right off the bat.

00:06:55.340 That was it.

00:06:56.120 Very simple.

00:06:57.080 That's unbelievable.

00:06:58.300 Let me, let me ask you this question.

00:07:01.260 You, say, say I'm one of the guys on that list ahead of you, and we play.

00:07:05.780 What are you doing to get a feel? 0.87

00:07:07.100 Is it, is your mind, like, are you asking, let me see if this guy's better than me on this side, and this side, and this side, or are you just going and saying, I'm going to kill this guy?

00:07:14.760 Well, it depends what year.

00:07:15.920 So, like, at 13 years old, I played the longer game, because my game wasn't about being better than you at 13.

00:07:23.040 It was to be better than you when, you know, the chips are really on the line.

00:07:28.840 So, when you played at 13, I would size you up and see what your strengths and weaknesses are.

00:07:33.640 How do you approach the game? 0.98

00:07:34.700 Are you silly about it? 0.99

00:07:35.720 Are you goofy about it? 0.99

00:07:36.800 Are you good at it just because you're bigger and stronger than everybody else? 0.96

00:07:40.220 Right?

00:07:40.460 Or is there actually thought and skill that you put into it?

00:07:43.620 Right?

00:07:43.860 And when I'd play, I'd play to my weaknesses.

00:07:46.680 I wouldn't play to my strengths.

00:07:47.760 I'd play to my weaknesses.

00:07:48.900 Because when you're playing summer basketball, there's so many games.

00:07:52.440 So, there's not a lot of skill work being done.

00:07:54.340 So, when are you going to get better?

00:07:56.040 Right?

00:07:56.280 When you're playing in competition situations, you're only playing to your strengths.

00:07:59.980 Why?

00:08:00.260 Because you want to win.

00:08:02.040 Right?

00:08:02.500 So, what I would do, I always work on the things during those games that I was weak at.

00:08:06.140 Left hand, pull-up jump shot, post-game.

00:08:10.300 Right?

00:08:10.440 So, I have a strategy. 0.99

00:08:12.200 And so, then, fast forward to when I'm 17, and my game is completely well-rounded, and that player at 13, that I saw at 13, is still doing the same shit at 17. 0.98

00:08:22.180 Now, you got a problem. 0.98

00:08:23.240 That's right.

00:08:23.780 You got a problem.

00:08:24.320 And you saw that.

00:08:25.460 You got a problem.

00:08:25.960 And by the way, let me ask you.

00:08:28.060 So, that's high school.

00:08:29.720 You're going to the league.

00:08:31.100 When you're going into the league, you're going with a lot of guys that were, you know, same age, you know, same class as you were going in.

00:08:37.440 Yeah.

00:08:38.160 Were you sizing those guys at the same exact way as you did in high school?

00:08:41.340 I did.

00:08:41.940 But, you know, in the NBA, it was actually easier.

00:08:45.300 Because what I found in the NBA is a lot of guys played for financial stability.

00:08:50.580 And when they came to the NBA, they got that financial stability.

00:08:53.720 So, therefore, the passion and the work ethic and the obsessiveness was gone.

00:08:59.700 So, I'm looking at that.

00:09:00.480 I'm like, oh, my goodness.

00:09:01.820 It's going to be like taking candy from a baby. 1.00

00:09:03.320 Now, wonder Mike wins all these fucking championships. 1.00

00:09:06.460 This is crazy. 1.00

00:09:09.120 You know what I'm saying?

00:09:10.140 Of course.

00:09:10.240 And then you had the players that had that passion but weren't willing to commit their entire lives to doing that.

00:09:21.860 Right?

00:09:21.980 It's a choice.

00:09:23.460 You have other things.

00:09:24.440 You have family.

00:09:25.240 You have all these other things that you have to do.

00:09:27.120 The game can't really be your number one priority.

00:09:32.060 And so, I was just looking at that like, man, this is going to be fun.

00:09:36.220 In the muse, in the muse, you said, I knew you couldn't do what I was doing because I was obsessed.

00:09:42.720 I'm paraphrasing.

00:09:44.120 And then you said, whether it's friends, relationship, it didn't matter.

00:09:47.180 It was all basketball.

00:09:48.580 Yeah.

00:09:48.740 If I'm buddies with you from high school, if I'm a cousin of yours, what happened to our relationship?

00:09:54.300 How did that gravitate when you went into the league and you're determined to become the greatest or you're determined to become one of the greatest?

00:10:01.300 What happens to our relationship?

00:10:03.000 Oh, it suffers.

00:10:04.300 It does suffer.

00:10:04.940 Oh, yeah.

00:10:05.500 Okay.

00:10:05.960 Yeah.

00:10:06.240 And you understood that.

00:10:07.300 You were okay with that.

00:10:08.480 Well, yeah.

00:10:09.100 And the people that love you, like friends and family, like they know that about you.

00:10:13.520 Got it.

00:10:14.220 So, they let you be you.

00:10:15.860 And when you reconvene, you know, you pick back up where you left off.

00:10:20.880 But make no mistake about it, everything in between is lost.

00:10:25.560 Right?

00:10:25.820 So, those long-term relationships, the commitment of time of, you know, taking vacations.

00:10:32.320 Like, I see a lot of players take vacations with other players that are close friends.

00:10:37.680 And, oh, just take vacations just to take vacations or just hang out just to hang out.

00:10:41.880 Like, I'm not – I never did that.

00:10:43.960 But it was a choice.

00:10:45.860 Why not though?

00:10:45.880 Why didn't you do that?

00:10:47.520 Well, because when I retire, I didn't want to have to say, I wish I would have done more.

00:10:54.520 I don't want that.

00:10:56.420 You know?

00:10:57.400 I don't want that.

00:10:58.260 So, okay.

00:11:04.040 So, you come in.

00:11:05.300 It's very powerful what you just said.

00:11:07.420 Some of your peers were in it for the money.

00:11:09.080 So, they got the money.

00:11:10.040 Okay, great.

00:11:11.160 Buy a house for my mom.

00:11:12.380 Dad wanted that car.

00:11:13.600 Get this.

00:11:14.160 Get that.

00:11:14.600 Have fame.

00:11:15.580 Go to different cities.

00:11:16.580 I'm partying.

00:11:17.060 I'm doing all this other stuff.

00:11:18.600 Who were some of the guys that you saw and you watched that weren't just driven by the money? 0.53

00:11:22.860 Were there some names that you looked at and said, these three guys are as crazy as I am? 0.83

00:11:26.960 I do.

00:11:28.020 At the time, I deal with what I've referred to as Goat Mountain.

00:11:32.440 I went to Goat Mountain and I talked to Magic, Michael, Bird, Kim Olajuwon, Jerry West, Oscar Robinson, Bill Russell.

00:11:45.100 So, I would talk to them.

00:11:48.800 What did you do?

00:11:50.380 What were your experiences?

00:11:51.640 Michael in particular.

00:11:52.580 He's become my big brother.

00:11:53.800 He's been my big brother since I first came in the league.

00:11:56.960 And what was that process like?

00:11:59.760 So, I went to them and started understanding the ins and outs of the game.

00:12:04.620 And, you know, how they approach things and their level of detail and obsessiveness.

00:12:08.920 And that's what I did.

00:12:12.060 Why do you think, and first of all, let me ask how it felt, but I'm curious to know why you think as well.

00:12:16.120 How did it feel knowing, like, from the moment you got into the league, the guy at the time is the greatest of all time.

00:12:23.820 Everybody wants to be like my Gatorade, all this stuff.

00:12:26.620 The level of respect he had for you when he spoke about you was different than everybody else.

00:12:33.120 And you're an 18, 19-year-old kid at that time.

00:12:35.500 Yeah.

00:12:35.760 How did that feel when you heard how he spoke about you?

00:12:38.100 It made me feel good.

00:12:39.920 But, you know, like what I told him, I was like, you didn't say anything I didn't already know.

00:12:44.400 So, you know, so, like, I tell you, like, when I was in high school and I used to work out with the 76ers, I used to ask them, you know, what's it like to guard Mike?

00:12:58.920 They go, Mike, you mean black Jesus? 0.99

00:13:01.420 I'm like, what the fuck? 1.00

00:13:04.700 Black who? 1.00

00:13:06.340 Oh, we call him black Jesus. 0.99

00:13:07.860 Or you can call him black cat. 1.00

00:13:09.880 Like, I'm going to call him fucking Mike. 1.00

00:13:11.340 That's his fucking name. 1.00

00:13:12.260 So, the level of fear that he inspired in others was insane. 1.00

00:13:19.280 And I would tell him, I'd say, when I face him, we're going to go at it.

00:13:22.880 He says, oh, you don't want to do that.

00:13:24.380 I'm like, what?

00:13:25.580 Man, you don't know me, man.

00:13:27.820 And so, when we matched up, I think he understood that.

00:13:32.220 And, you know, when I was 18, my first year, he got the best of me a bunch of times.

00:13:37.360 I was right there the next play.

00:13:39.480 You're not intimidating me.

00:13:40.780 I'm not going anywhere.

00:13:41.800 And I think he saw that level of respect because I think he was the same way at 18 years old.

00:13:47.020 And that common bond is what I think, you know, where our connection was built.

00:13:53.140 Yeah, it was great watching you guys going back and forth, whether it was the All-Star game or whether the famous scene where, you know, you're guarding him.

00:14:00.280 He's in front of you.

00:14:00.940 You're asking him a question.

00:14:01.760 There's a question.

00:14:02.400 And he's saying, footwork and do this.

00:14:04.140 It's just beautiful watching that take place with the two of you guys.

00:14:07.020 How's your relationship today?

00:14:09.160 That was my big brother, man.

00:14:10.380 Like, I can't, you know, it's, we talk often.

00:14:15.020 We send each other Christmas cards every year.

00:14:17.260 Send each other Christmas cards.

00:14:18.340 Every year.

00:14:19.800 That we have nothing to do with, but, you know, yet and still, you know.

00:14:23.380 So, but we're extremely close, man.

00:14:26.560 Extremely?

00:14:27.140 Extremely close.

00:14:28.020 Extremely.

00:14:28.500 That's great.

00:14:28.920 Yeah, you know, it's, as a fan, I'm not in your world.

00:14:32.760 Your world is a whole different world.

00:14:34.080 I just see it from a fan and I just see it from what experts say.

00:14:36.920 But, as a fan, I feel that's exactly how it would be with you and him because the level of respect from both sides is reciprocal.

00:14:44.340 And it's great to hear that.

00:14:46.780 Going a little bit past it, you know, you came into the league.

00:14:50.000 You start playing.

00:14:51.460 First year, you get traded for Divac, which we were devastated when we lost Vlade Divac.

00:14:55.860 I want you to see it.

00:14:58.980 Heartbroken.

00:15:00.180 But we lost him.

00:15:02.340 Okay.

00:15:03.480 I think he got the sarcasm.

00:15:05.000 Some of you guys who don't know basketball, you missed that one.

00:15:07.220 You kind of went like this.

00:15:08.940 But Kobe shows up.

00:15:10.280 I mean, I'm like a kid in a candy.

00:15:11.720 So, when you show up, I'm like, oh, no more Sedell trees.

00:15:14.980 We're going to get some real players.

00:15:16.520 Nothing against these guys, but we wanted some entertainment, you know.

00:15:19.260 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:15:19.940 So, you show up and you play and there was the one game.

00:15:23.020 I think you started getting a little bit more playing time.

00:15:24.720 I think you did 7.2 points a game because they won't let you play.

00:15:27.600 The coach was just not putting you in there.

00:15:29.420 Yeah.

00:15:29.580 Second season was like 15.

00:15:30.900 I bet if you take your first three and you played college, you're 25.4.

00:15:34.400 It probably would be a 26.5, 26.6 type of a number.

00:15:37.500 Yeah.

00:15:37.940 But your first three seasons, then the one game, it's the last game of the season you play Utah.

00:15:42.260 Yeah.

00:15:42.760 The one where you shoot three air balls at the end.

00:15:44.800 Five.

00:15:45.160 It was like five.

00:15:46.100 And then you hit one and his team doesn't go in, right?

00:15:49.100 Moses, not Malone.

00:15:50.540 One of the Malones came and spoke to you.

00:15:52.140 I don't know who it was.

00:15:52.880 From the Jazz.

00:15:53.660 Malone, yeah.

00:15:54.160 He was saying something.

00:15:54.800 You were not even paying attention.

00:15:56.360 Shaq was whispering something in your ear.

00:15:58.100 What did Shaq say to you in that moment?

00:15:59.640 I don't even know.

00:16:00.520 You don't remember?

00:16:01.300 No, I wasn't paying attention.

00:16:03.300 Got it. 1.00

00:16:03.400 You know, like, it was, you know, like, for me, it's, maybe it's a little, like, asshole 0.99

00:16:08.720 of me or whatever, but whatever. 0.99

00:16:10.380 He was, like, he was trying to whisper encouraging things. 0.59

00:16:16.260 I was like, I'm fucking fine. 0.95

00:16:18.000 I was like, okay, I shot five air balls on national TV in front of millions of people that cost us 0.98

00:16:26.380 the series, and I'm 18.

00:16:29.680 I'm fine, dude.

00:16:30.340 How do you get there, how does somebody get there mentally?

00:16:33.660 Would that public humiliation to some people, hearst them, and they don't come back?

00:16:37.860 Because, you know, there was a player, Barbosa.

00:16:39.660 I don't know if you remember Barbosa.

00:16:40.540 Yeah, of course.

00:16:40.920 You remember?

00:16:41.280 Of course.

00:16:41.540 He was extremely talented for a quick first step, but they said he wouldn't do well when

00:16:45.700 the spotlight was on him.

00:16:46.940 Yeah.

00:16:47.060 How did you get mentally and emotionally so strong where it doesn't bother you?

00:16:52.580 Well, you know, you got to look at the reality of the situation.

00:16:56.420 You know, like, for me, it's not, you know, you kind of got to get over yourself.

00:17:00.640 Like, it's not about you, man.

00:17:01.880 Like, okay, you feel embarrassed.

00:17:03.600 You're not that important.

00:17:04.820 Like, get over yourself.

00:17:06.440 That's where you go.

00:17:07.300 Get over yourself, right?

00:17:08.460 Like, you're worried about how people may perceive you and, like, you're walking around

00:17:11.820 and it's embarrassing because you shot five air balls.

00:17:14.660 Get over yourself, right?

00:17:16.260 And then after that, it's okay, well, why did those air balls happen?

00:17:20.960 Got it.

00:17:21.740 High school, year before, we played 35 games max, right?

00:17:25.940 Week in between, spaced out, plenty of time to rest.

00:17:29.040 In the NBA, it's back to back to back to back to back to back to back.

00:17:32.160 I didn't have the legs.

00:17:34.140 So you look at the shot, every shot was online.

00:17:36.360 Every shot was online, but every shot was short, right?

00:17:40.640 I got to get stronger.

00:17:41.840 I got to train differently.

00:17:43.400 The weight training program that I'm doing, I got to tailor it for an 82-game season so

00:17:49.340 that when the playoffs come around, my legs are stronger and that ball gets there.

00:17:52.720 So I look at it with rationale and say, okay, well, the reason why I shot air balls is because

00:17:57.560 my legs aren't there.

00:17:58.660 I go, well, next year they'll be there.

00:18:00.580 That was it.

00:18:01.480 Done.

00:18:01.980 Done.

00:18:02.220 And then what is your process of improvement with your schedule leaving?

00:18:06.820 Because, you know, Phil Jackson gets asked between you and MJ, right?

00:18:10.640 Because he coached both of you guys.

00:18:12.000 So, you know, he constantly gets asked that question.

00:18:15.000 He's always going to pick the first child. 0.97

00:18:16.740 That's why he's going to pick the first child.

00:18:18.560 But I tell you, he said something about you that to me, it's a level of respect that any

00:18:24.840 player can duplicate what he said about you.

00:18:26.940 To me, the level of respect for that is a whole different level.

00:18:28.920 Well, you can't teach big hands, right?

00:18:31.880 You cannot teach that, right?

00:18:32.940 Right.

00:18:33.280 You cannot teach 49, 48-inch, whatever the vertical leap is, and you cannot teach that,

00:18:37.560 right?

00:18:37.700 Sure.

00:18:38.120 But he said nobody in his history of coaching had your level of work ethic.

00:18:44.440 I mean, you hear so many, William, so many guys tell stories about your work ethic.

00:18:48.380 Yeah.

00:18:48.600 What was really your work ethic like and for how long did you stay disciplined?

00:18:52.160 Well, I mean, every day.

00:18:56.360 I mean, since, you know, 20 years.

00:18:58.200 I mean, it was an everyday process in trying to figure out strengths and weaknesses.

00:19:01.500 For example, jumping ability.

00:19:03.600 My vertical was a 40.

00:19:05.140 It wasn't a 46 or a 45.

00:19:08.560 My hands are big, but they're not massive, right?

00:19:11.300 So, you got to figure out ways to strengthen them so your hands are strong enough to be able

00:19:14.940 to palm a ball and do the things that you need to do.

00:19:16.900 And quickness, I was quick, but not insanely quick.

00:19:21.440 I was fast, but not ridiculously fast, right?

00:19:24.280 So, I had to rely on skill a lot more.

00:19:28.440 I had to rely on angles a lot more.

00:19:30.060 I had to study the game a lot more.

00:19:32.880 But I enjoyed it, though.

00:19:34.700 So, like, from the time I was, I can't remember when I started watching the game, I studied

00:19:38.880 the game, and it just never changed.

00:19:42.000 Technical question here.

00:19:43.260 Sure.

00:19:43.460 Let's see how you can answer this.

00:19:44.360 Who would Shaq be if he had your work ethic?

00:19:47.940 He'd be the greatest of all time.

00:19:51.220 If Shaq had your work ethic, he'd be the greatest of all time.

00:19:53.420 Greatest of all time by my mind.

00:19:54.000 For sure.

00:19:55.200 He'd be the first to tell you that.

00:19:56.860 For sure.

00:19:57.520 I mean, this guy was a force.

00:19:59.720 Like, I have never seen.

00:20:01.680 I mean, it was crazy.

00:20:03.760 You know, a guy at that size.

00:20:04.740 Generally, guys at that size are a little timid, and they don't want to be tall.

00:20:11.360 They don't want to be big.

00:20:12.520 Like, man, this dude was, he did not care.

00:20:15.900 He was mean. 0.98

00:20:17.200 He was nasty. 0.99

00:20:18.660 He was competitive. 0.98

00:20:20.020 He was vindictive.

00:20:22.140 I mean, he was, yeah.

00:20:24.000 I wish he was in a gym. 0.99

00:20:24.920 I would have had fucking 12 rings. 0.99

00:20:30.540 He had the work ethic. 0.99

00:20:31.900 My God, yeah.

00:20:34.320 We didn't even be close.

00:20:35.400 Wow.

00:20:37.380 And let me ask you.

00:20:38.400 Let me ask you this question.

00:20:39.240 And by the way, I'm not asking this question to create feud between you and him.

00:20:42.280 I don't care.

00:20:43.080 You guys talk about it. 0.99

00:20:44.140 I mean, Shaq sit down all the time when I say, dude, if your lazy ass is in shape. 1.00

00:20:48.460 I hear you saying all the time, and he takes it. 0.99

00:20:50.260 I tell him all the time.

00:20:51.300 I'm asking this question for a different reason.

00:20:52.780 I'm asking this question because, look, we've grown as a company extremely fast.

00:20:56.500 We went from one office with 66 agents to 10,900 agents in 49 states, and we're the fastest

00:21:05.460 growing insurance company now.

00:21:07.000 But I say this.

00:21:10.600 I say it for one reason.

00:21:12.640 And by the way, this message is directed to a lot of you, so hear me out very simply.

00:21:18.620 The fact that you say the work ethic side, the fact that you say work ethic side, and

00:21:23.040 you say, hey, if he would have worked that hard as I did, do you think if he would have

00:21:28.640 had the same level of commitment to the game as you did, you guys would have had fewer feuds

00:21:32.620 between each other?

00:21:33.760 Yeah.

00:21:34.380 Because, listen, I don't deal with people that don't commit at that level, but then act as

00:21:42.900 if they do.

00:21:44.140 I don't deal with that.

00:21:45.500 I don't. 1.00

00:21:46.400 It's real shit. 0.99

00:21:47.140 I mean, listen, so, like, we used to get into this stuff all the time because it was 1.00

00:21:51.760 like, you know, he would say, okay, Kobe's not throwing me the ball.

00:21:57.700 And, you know, media would take it and run with it and all this sort of stuff.

00:22:00.400 And I'm like, well, bro, if you were in shape, by the time I run down on a fast break and

00:22:06.260 run back and then run down, you're still coming down the first time, bro.

00:22:10.580 Like, what the hell do you want me to do?

00:22:13.860 Right?

00:22:14.220 So, a lot of our contention came from that, came from that.

00:22:18.680 And even though he was older, you were still confronting him.

00:22:20.880 You didn't care about that.

00:22:21.500 Oh, I didn't care.

00:22:22.460 Man, listen.

00:22:22.800 From day one?

00:22:23.360 Bro.

00:22:23.700 From day one.

00:22:24.840 I knew for sure Rick Fox, my teammates, they all thought I was absolutely crazy the day

00:22:32.300 me and Shaq got in the fist fight.

00:22:34.320 After that day, they were like, okay, Kobe, you're certifiable.

00:22:38.600 Fist fight.

00:22:39.380 Oh, yeah.

00:22:40.200 Fist fight.

00:22:40.700 I'm not backing down. 0.99

00:22:41.680 Listen, either you want to work my ass or we want to have a night. 0.97

00:22:44.520 But, you know, there's a level of respect. 0.98

00:22:54.480 And for Shaq, too, by the way, I know he's told me that that day was a big turning point

00:23:00.480 for him because it was like, you know, he's generally used to talking trash and saying what

00:23:06.620 he wants and nobody really stepping up and challenging him on that. 0.95

00:23:10.160 And when he saw me challenge him on that, he was like, this kid's crazy. 0.60

00:23:15.000 All right.

00:23:15.620 I can win with that.

00:23:17.380 You know?

00:23:17.760 And so that was kind of the beginning of our relationship, I think.

00:23:20.800 That's probably never happened to him.

00:23:22.100 That's probably not something that's common to him.

00:23:23.920 No.

00:23:24.740 I mean, he's been seven feet tall since he was three years old or something, right?

00:23:27.880 This is all coming back to me right now.

00:23:31.420 It was also a game in Phoenix.

00:23:33.040 It was my first year we were playing and he kept posting up.

00:23:38.580 But they kept fouling him.

00:23:39.980 So he kept going to the free throw line and kept missing him.

00:23:42.980 And so he'd throw the ball out to me. 0.99

00:23:45.260 I'm not throwing that shit back in there. 0.99

00:23:47.440 Right? 1.00

00:23:47.840 So I kept shooting him, right?

00:23:50.080 So we're getting the timeout.

00:23:50.920 He's like, hey, hey, I'm open.

00:23:53.440 I'm like, okay.

00:23:55.220 And so we go out and same thing.

00:23:57.440 Hey, I'm open.

00:23:58.900 Okay.

00:23:59.980 You know?

00:24:00.700 Come back in.

00:24:01.560 Hey, dude, you got to throw me the ball. 1.00

00:24:02.660 I said, man, fuck that. 1.00

00:24:03.500 Get it off the rebound if I miss, bro. 1.00

00:24:06.800 You told him this.

00:24:08.720 First year.

00:24:09.640 18 years old, man.

00:24:11.100 18 years old. 0.99

00:24:12.800 And I must have been out of my damn mind. 0.97

00:24:16.800 So did you have guys you went to outside of the players? 0.96

00:24:22.720 Like when you're coming to figure out a way to improve your game.

00:24:26.060 We had Billy Bean here a couple days ago.

00:24:28.680 And I don't know if you know who Billy Bean is.

00:24:30.080 If you've seen the movie Moneyball, he's the guy.

00:24:31.920 So he talked a lot about predictive analytics.

00:24:35.140 He talked about the fact that the year Moneyball came out, the year prior to that, they paid

00:24:40.040 players and looked at on-base percentage as eight stats.

00:24:44.100 And the year Moneyball came out, all the scouts started making on-base percentage number one,

00:24:48.340 what they recruited for, right?

00:24:49.260 Did you have ways to improve your game by looking at data, looking at conditioning?

00:24:54.820 What were some of the factors you looked at on how to improve your game season after season?

00:24:59.120 The game itself was, it's a complicated answer.

00:25:03.440 So there are very tactical things in terms of footwork and geometry of the court.

00:25:07.580 So you're looking at the court and looking at the 45-degree angles that the court is shaped in and how it needs to operate.

00:25:15.500 That's one component to it.

00:25:17.020 So looking at spots on the floor where you can increase your efficiency, right?

00:25:22.020 You can be on the wing, but there's a certain spot on the wing that improves your angle to drive to the basket, right?

00:25:27.600 So that sort of stuff, footwork of the opposition, looking at the emotion of the opposition,

00:25:33.340 their tendencies, their weaknesses and all that stuff, understanding the momentum of the game,

00:25:38.200 how to create momentum shifts, where momentum shifts come from, all this sort of stuff.

00:25:43.340 And then studying outside of that, right?

00:25:45.300 Looking at different industries, looking at conductors, looking at writers, looking at actors

00:25:50.560 and how they get into character and then how do they keep themselves in that mental space.

00:25:54.560 So looking at different industries, looking at nature itself and learning from that

00:26:00.740 and how you can incorporate that into the game, man, it's a lot of studying.

00:26:06.680 What's your process for making a decision?

00:26:08.440 Do you have a flow of how you go through making a decision?

00:26:11.360 Depends on the decision.

00:26:13.360 Depends on the decision.

00:26:14.340 If we're talking about a basketball decision where you've got to read a certain coverage

00:26:21.920 or something like that, I mean, a lot of that comes from the pre-work, pre-work and understanding

00:26:26.900 what their defensive package is and how to put teammates in certain situations.

00:26:31.420 So, for example, if you look at players nowadays that are charged with taking game-winning shots

00:26:37.080 or making game-winning decisions, and you look at the play and then you look at it and say,

00:26:41.100 okay, well, that shooter was there, the double team came, and, you know,

00:26:45.560 the player couldn't do anything but pass the ball, right?

00:26:49.100 Well, that's because they didn't do the pre-work, right?

00:26:52.660 So when you do the pre-work, you understand, okay, this team in a situation likes to run

00:26:55.980 a double team from this particular angle, all right?

00:26:58.220 So I'm going to clear that side out, force the double team to come from a different angle,

00:27:02.000 move myself to a space on the floor where it's going to take a long time for the double team

00:27:05.360 to come, and now I can circumvent the double team and get to a place on the floor where I can

00:27:09.700 knock down a shot and get to the basket.

00:27:11.520 So it's all that pre-work.

00:27:13.200 So decision, when I say decision, how is a, if you're looking at somebody that you're sizing up

00:27:20.440 or if you're looking at somebody to go into business with or if you're looking at a big investments

00:27:25.260 you got to make, what is the decision-making process there?

00:27:27.760 Do you call, is there, first you do your own research, you take this much time, you call an advisor,

00:27:32.480 is there a system you follow?

00:27:33.820 No, it's pretty simple for me.

00:27:35.320 It's do you understand the business?

00:27:36.760 Is it a business that you can help in some form or fashion?

00:27:41.340 What are the barriers of entry to that business?

00:27:43.900 And then the entrepreneurs themselves, the company itself, right?

00:27:48.340 Do they have a culture that you believe is sustainable?

00:27:52.140 Are these leaders people that you believe in?

00:27:54.780 Are they people that are obsessives?

00:27:57.380 And in turn, have they created a culture of obsessiveness?

00:28:01.020 So I tend to look at those four factors and that's it.

00:28:03.440 That's big right there, by the way.

00:28:04.840 I don't know if you guys caught that right there.

00:28:06.040 That's pretty massive right there.

00:28:11.900 Earlier you said, I'm probably not going to get this right, a 16-year-old, a 13 or 11-year-old?

00:28:18.220 Yeah, 13.

00:28:19.060 16, 13, two, and one that's a month.

00:28:22.900 One that's a month, by the way, right?

00:28:24.420 One that's a month.

00:28:25.260 All girls. 0.60

00:28:26.220 All girls, 4-4-4.

00:28:27.460 So 16 means you're in your fifth, sixth year, sixth year having a baby?

00:28:36.720 Yeah.

00:28:37.040 Something like that, right?

00:28:38.220 Give or take.

00:28:39.300 What was the conversation like with your wife to say, listen, this is the schedule?

00:28:45.120 Because look, you know, some entrepreneurs, they're coming home at night and late.

00:28:48.780 Oh, my gosh, my wife is upset because I came home at 11.30.

00:28:52.220 Oh, my goodness.

00:28:53.440 What a sacrifice I'm making.

00:28:55.540 You know, this life's, you know, I don't know if I can do this.

00:28:58.480 Sure.

00:28:58.720 You're on the road nine months out of the year.

00:29:00.640 Sure.

00:29:00.820 Especially Play-Doh Olympia.

00:29:01.780 You won two gold medals.

00:29:02.820 So you're doing that on the offseason and you're trying to get that part going and training for doing your camps.

00:29:07.560 What is the conversational life like with your wife and kids to say, listen, this is what I'm doing.

00:29:13.760 How did that conversation go?

00:29:15.160 Well, with the kids, it's different.

00:29:16.640 So, like, the communication with our children is that, you know, Pops is working hard.

00:29:23.840 This is the level of attention to detail you need to have in everything you do.

00:29:28.020 So it's setting the example.

00:29:30.000 Same thing with my wife. 1.00

00:29:30.980 My wife's a stay-at-home wife. 1.00

00:29:32.720 It's the hardest job, man.

00:29:34.580 So she works really hard at that.

00:29:36.260 I mean, it's, you know, and so her attention to detail with that as well are examples for our children.

00:29:44.720 And then for my wife, it's, you know, she's as competitive as I am.

00:29:48.260 She's just like, listen, man, if you're going to be out here training eight hours a day, 0.98

00:29:51.900 if you're going to spend nine months out of the year away from your family, you better fucking win the championship. 0.96

00:29:57.180 What are we doing this for? 0.99

00:30:02.160 What are we doing?

00:30:04.080 What are we doing?

00:30:04.660 I love that.

00:30:05.300 You know?

00:30:06.260 But it's a balancing act.

00:30:07.640 And that's the thing that's important is understanding that we have to have so much energy.

00:30:13.480 Because for, like, Natalia and Gianna when they were babies, especially Natalia because she was doing prime years.

00:30:19.960 And I go to practice and I'd train and, you know, I'd play the game and, you know, I'd come home and I'd be sore and I'd be tired.

00:30:26.420 And she wants to go swimming and she wants me to take her to the park and she wants to just jump on my back or whatever the case may be. 1.00

00:30:33.700 You can't say, you can't say, you can't say, you can't say, I'm too tired, I'm going to lay down.

00:30:37.720 That's not fair.

00:30:38.780 She don't know what the hell is going on.

00:30:40.920 Right? 0.95

00:30:41.160 And if this was a game, you'd suck it up and play.

00:30:45.100 I play games with the flu.

00:30:46.500 I play games with 102 degree fever, man.

00:30:48.680 Powerful.

00:30:49.080 You can't do that for me.

00:30:49.860 That is so powerful.

00:30:51.660 You got to be on, man.

00:30:53.900 That's big.

00:30:54.500 Would you guys, would you, would you sit at the, because you, you're obviously very detailed, your show.

00:31:02.020 I mean, you're a very, very detailed guy.

00:31:04.100 Would you guys have a meeting?

00:31:05.500 Like I sit there and say, okay, if I'm, if I'm thinking like Kobe, let's just say Kobe's trying to schedule out his years.

00:31:11.020 Season's about to start.

00:31:12.180 Would you sit with her and say, okay, babe, this is the schedule next 12 months.

00:31:16.360 Tell me about birthdays.

00:31:17.180 Tell me about this.

00:31:18.300 Is that, is that what you guys do?

00:31:19.400 Yeah.

00:31:19.580 I look at it and say, okay, birthdays, what am I missing?

00:31:22.040 Valentine's Day, Halloween, Christmas, you know, Easter, like all that fun stuff.

00:31:28.380 I look at the schedule and see what I'm there for, what I'm not there for.

00:31:31.940 Christmas, is it a road game or a home game this year?

00:31:34.640 And then we make a family decision.

00:31:36.200 Is family travel?

00:31:37.800 Do I come back?

00:31:38.900 Like sometimes I'd, I'd fly back.

00:31:40.620 Like I'd play a game and to not miss my daughter's birthday, I'd fly back, be there for her birthday and then fly back with the team.

00:31:47.900 You know, just to make sure I don't miss anything.

00:31:50.720 Respect.

00:31:52.660 What's the least amount of sleep you play the game on?

00:31:57.080 No sleep.

00:31:57.560 Is there a story where it's like, you know, no one knows about where you went and played a game and it was so insane for whatever reasons?

00:32:03.120 No sleep.

00:32:04.720 You play the game with zero sleep.

00:32:06.520 Zero sleep.

00:32:08.280 Zero sleep.

00:32:09.020 It's like, you know, kids, you know, Natalia had a certain, you know, health situation or what have you and you're staying up all night and then you got to go out and perform.

00:32:20.820 Because fans don't know, teammates don't know, nor do they care, nor should they, that you've been up all night.

00:32:28.520 You got to perform, right?

00:32:30.040 And so, you just got to go to work, man.

00:32:33.660 That's respect.

00:32:34.240 That's it.

00:32:34.500 That's respect.

00:32:34.820 And I think one of the things for some of you follow basketball or not that you and Mike had in common is that it wasn't, hey, I'm going to take eight games off this year to try to stay healthy.

00:32:45.880 The mindset I'm going, you know, like that to you is comical, right, to do that.

00:32:49.660 What the hell is that, man?

00:32:50.840 I don't know what that is. 0.96

00:32:51.660 That's crazy.

00:32:53.420 Seriously, it's crazy.

00:32:54.360 Like, you know, you got a lot of people playing their hard-earned money to come watch you perform.

00:32:59.080 Perform.

00:33:00.280 Perform.

00:33:00.980 It's your job to be in shape.

00:33:02.260 It's your job to be strong enough to perform at that level every single night. 0.99

00:33:06.180 And as a competitor, I'm not ducking shit. 0.99

00:33:09.820 Like, it's not, oh, my God, my back hurts. 0.99

00:33:12.220 I'm sore.

00:33:13.040 We got to play Vince Carter and Toronto Raptors tonight.

00:33:15.480 We actually had this happen.

00:33:16.680 We had a game against Toronto in 2000, and Vince was tearing the league up.

00:33:24.760 My back was jacked, jacked.

00:33:28.400 But, like, the perception of that, like, what?

00:33:31.340 Kobe's missing a game against Toronto and Vince Carter because, you know, my back was really spasming.

00:33:37.800 But people would be like, what?

00:33:39.480 Oh, he's ducking Vince.

00:33:40.740 Excuse me?

00:33:42.920 No, I don't think so.

00:33:44.120 So I would be in the layup line like, okay, there's a lot of days where, you know, you can rest and recover.

00:33:50.200 Today ain't one of them.

00:33:51.600 Your back can bother you. 1.00

00:33:52.640 Any other day, that shit ain't bothering me today. 0.99

00:33:55.340 We're going to, he's going to have to see me today. 0.99

00:33:57.620 Yeah.

00:33:57.920 Oh, man.

00:33:58.520 Yeah.

00:34:01.740 He was another one that came in.

00:34:03.300 You thought for sure, you know, he was going to be one of the, in a whole different league when he came in.

00:34:08.000 And obviously he would, he just, I don't know what his vertical leap is, 46, 47, it's out of this world what he does.

00:34:13.020 The best dunker I've ever seen.

00:34:15.100 Insanity is, I mean, insanity is why they call him that. 0.95

00:34:18.460 Crazy. 1.00

00:34:19.020 You're an alpha. 0.99

00:34:19.960 You have a very strong personality, extremely strong personality.

00:34:24.300 And then you got a team with Shaq, and then you got a team with Phil Jackson, and you guys are all working together.

00:34:31.060 How was it taking coaching from an alpha and you're an alpha?

00:34:36.800 And was there a progression of you finally understanding him or him understanding you?

00:34:41.220 And what did that look like, the relation between you and Phil?

00:34:43.240 No.

00:34:43.720 At first it was rocky, but I didn't understand it was rocky.

00:34:48.080 And let me elaborate.

00:34:49.180 I was extremely naive, and with Phil and his genius, his responsibility was to get the team to a place to win titles.

00:34:58.740 It wasn't to appease one player.

00:35:01.420 It wasn't to look out for this player.

00:35:03.680 It was to get the collective hold to win a championship.

00:35:06.740 So he would do whatever it took to make sure that that happened.

00:35:10.480 He would see the friction between myself and Shaquille and say, okay, how can I use that?

00:35:15.260 All right, I know Kobe has a passion to play, so come hell or high water, doesn't matter what's going on in his personal life, doesn't matter what's happening here with the team, he's going to show up and perform no matter what.

00:35:26.500 Shaq is more emotional.

00:35:28.360 If something's going on, he won't.

00:35:30.720 So therefore, I got to figure out how to create a wedge between myself and Kobe because then that brings me closer to Shaquille.

00:35:38.020 And then that helps me better manage Shaq. 1.00

00:35:40.040 So that was his ability to manage the team, which was absolutely brilliant.

00:35:44.740 I used to tell him all the time, I said, Phil, look, I know what you're doing, bro.

00:35:47.080 Like, don't insult my intelligence. 0.99

00:35:48.820 I know you're being a dick to me on purpose. 0.99

00:35:50.540 Like, just, like, tell me. 0.99

00:35:52.580 No?

00:35:53.040 No?

00:35:53.500 Okay, you're going to stick, stay with it?

00:35:55.020 All right, cool.

00:35:55.840 All right.

00:35:57.340 How's your relationship till today?

00:35:58.680 I mean, you guys want five.

00:35:59.380 He's like a father figure.

00:36:00.900 Really?

00:36:01.400 Yeah, Phil's like a father figure, man.

00:36:02.860 So when you were hearing all the experts saying what they were saying, commentators saying what they were saying about Phil, how were you taking that when they were saying what they were saying about him when he was at the Knicks?

00:36:13.380 I thought it was funny.

00:36:15.940 I thought it was funny.

00:36:17.360 I told Phil, I said, Phil, you know, this is all just karma for writing literally three books about me.

00:36:23.740 This is your karma.

00:36:28.380 You told him that.

00:36:28.940 I did tell him that.

00:36:30.340 It was just all in good fun.

00:36:31.480 But I was upset because people don't understand him.

00:36:37.740 And he is a genius in every sense of the word.

00:36:42.740 And how he sees the game, how he sees the spirituality of the game.

00:36:47.060 And people don't understand that.

00:36:48.920 And worse than that, they're intimidated by that.

00:36:51.520 And even worse, they try to discredit that because they do not have the level of passion and obsessiveness to get to that level.

00:37:01.540 So they figure the best thing to do is to tear that level down. 0.99

00:37:04.780 That's fucked up. 1.00

00:37:05.580 I'm with you. 1.00

00:37:08.000 They're 100%, by the way.

00:37:15.680 Obviously, he had a lot of interesting rituals.

00:37:17.560 You would hear about the yoga.

00:37:18.560 You would hear about all the stuff that he would do.

00:37:20.660 What is the weirdest thing he did with you in practice that you're like, what the hell are we doing here?

00:37:24.480 He had a Tai Chi master come to practice.

00:37:29.660 And we walk out there and, you know, the Tai Chi master is standing center court and tells us to take our shoes off.

00:37:39.340 Take our shoes off.

00:37:40.240 And I'm pissed because I'm ready to, like, play basketball.

00:37:43.880 He's standing up there and says everybody closes their eyes and stuff.

00:37:47.060 And he does stuff like monk gazing at moon and talks about the fingertips and barely touching and the spirituality of all that. 0.99

00:37:54.520 And I'm peeking around like, is everybody doing this shit? 0.99

00:37:56.540 Like, what the hell's going on? 1.00

00:38:01.220 And, you know, big-ass Phil.

00:38:02.900 Phil's there doing it himself.

00:38:04.340 He's, like, you know, he's doing this whole, like, doing all this stuff, you know. 0.99

00:38:08.220 And I'm like, damn. 0.99

00:38:10.360 Okay, I'm going to try it. 0.99

00:38:12.040 But honestly, I bought into it.

00:38:16.700 I bought into the meditation.

00:38:19.180 I bought into the deeper connection that exists within the game.

00:38:23.100 And so when you watch our teams or you watch any of Phil's teams or Chicago teams, game six against Utah, you watch our games, you know, game seven against Boston, we were never rattled ever because we're always in the moment, always in the present, always extremely calm, always looking at the reality of the situation and not letting our emotions cloud our execution.

00:38:46.300 And that comes from being in that meditative state that he would teach and preach from day one.

00:38:53.340 Would he take you back?

00:38:55.520 Would he take you back?

00:38:57.580 Would he take you back and say you had a terrible game and it was, you know, the season prior?

00:39:05.980 Would he take you back and say, we're going to watch this game?

00:39:09.120 It was a worse loss we had.

00:39:11.500 It was absolutely embarrassing for you to kind of see what things you did to improve.

00:39:15.500 Was he that kind of a, was he?

00:39:17.080 No.

00:39:18.200 It was more about fundamentals and improving the game.

00:39:20.700 Move on.

00:39:21.480 He was very hands-off, right?

00:39:23.740 In the sense of he allowed players to develop.

00:39:26.740 He would allow you to find your truth and then go after it.

00:39:30.240 And he was there to simply guide you along that journey, which I actually learned from him and that's how I parent and that's how I coach my daughter's team now.

00:39:39.960 So that's why I say he's a father figure because I've learned so much from him as a coach that I take as a father, as a husband, and as a coach myself.

00:39:48.160 But he was very, he's very observant.

00:39:51.300 Was he a one-on, better one-on-one or one-on-few?

00:39:54.360 Like, one-on-one versus one-on-twelve.

00:39:57.020 Like, if I'm having a team meeting and I'm talking to guys to rally them or calm them down or it's okay, strategy, or was he very good one-on-one, just you and him, closed doors?

00:40:06.980 Yes.

00:40:07.420 Great conversationalists, but hated confrontation.

00:40:11.600 He hated confrontation.

00:40:12.560 Direct confrontation is not his thing.

00:40:15.340 Doesn't do it.

00:40:16.280 Never did well with it.

00:40:17.700 Had a lot to do with how he grew up and his, you know, his brother, his siblings, and father, and so forth and so on.

00:40:22.480 Hates direct confrontation.

00:40:25.020 And he knew that about himself.

00:40:26.240 So that's why a lot of his challenges were indirect.

00:40:29.500 He went to the media with things.

00:40:30.980 So he's very indirect.

00:40:32.140 He would never challenge a player directly.

00:40:35.180 He didn't like that.

00:40:37.860 Yeah.

00:40:38.680 He said one time you guys had a meeting and he sat you down on Shaq down and he says, listen, I know you guys think you're alpha.

00:40:43.480 I'm a bigger alpha than the both of you guys.

00:40:45.180 Did that ever take place?

00:40:47.200 Not really.

00:40:47.960 No, it was more like, you know, he would say it in film sessions.

00:40:54.280 Not with me and Shaq.

00:40:55.560 Like, he never sat me and Shaq down.

00:40:58.540 Like him, me, and Shaq.

00:41:00.620 He never sat.

00:41:01.440 No, God no.

00:41:02.600 Are you kidding?

00:41:03.240 Why wouldn't he, though?

00:41:04.020 Is it the confrontation?

00:41:04.680 I'm sure it would be a little terrifying for him.

00:41:06.600 Got it.

00:41:08.420 I mean, Phil, have you ever seen Phil walk?

00:41:10.660 I mean, Phil, you know, he's got like one good hip on like the best day of his life. 0.97

00:41:14.860 It's like if some shit goes down, he's doing nothing to break that up. 0.96

00:41:23.220 So I'm assuming it's a little intimidating. 0.97

00:41:25.360 But what he would do is he would do things indirect.

00:41:28.940 And it wasn't about calming the waters.

00:41:33.040 It was about stirring up the waters and creating a storm that eventually would lead this broken ship to the shore it was trying to get to in the first place.

00:41:42.420 So was he constantly instigating and stirring in his own way?

00:41:46.040 That's what he was doing, man.

00:41:46.960 So, like, if you've ever seen the movie Moana, if anybody has kids here, I'm sure you've seen Moana.

00:41:53.320 Right?

00:41:53.780 When she goes out and all of a sudden there's a storm and she loses her mind, thinks everything is lost, and all of a sudden she wakes up and she's right where she was supposed to be, that's Phil.

00:42:04.200 Wow.

00:42:04.700 That's a great example.

00:42:06.180 That's a great example.

00:42:07.020 So we're coming on to the last 15 minutes.

00:42:10.360 I've got a list of questions that I'm not going to get to, but I do want to ask a couple of these.

00:42:14.280 Is you're playing against the Golden State Warriors.

00:42:18.900 Score is 107-109.

00:42:22.140 You guys are close to getting into the playoffs.

00:42:25.420 You know exactly what happens in the game.

00:42:27.360 You go up.

00:42:28.560 You're about to take your shot.

00:42:29.760 And then all of a sudden, boom, Achilles happens.

00:42:33.080 Right?

00:42:33.300 A friend of mine, Nima, he is here just to listen to.

00:42:38.640 He played ball.

00:42:40.200 And he told me, he says, Patrick, I don't think you understand.

00:42:42.780 He says, when I tore my Achilles in high school, he says, four friends of mine dragged me to my hospital.

00:42:49.020 I was crying from there straight to the hospital.

00:42:51.360 He says, I have no clue how the hell this guy did it.

00:42:55.660 He went and hit the free throws and then you walked off the stage.

00:43:00.380 Yeah.

00:43:00.600 And then you got the surgery done.

00:43:01.860 How the hell do you tolerate that kind of pain?

00:43:10.480 You know, I tell this example, and I think this is the best way to explain it.

00:43:17.300 You know, you have a hamstring injury.

00:43:20.300 You pull your hamstring really, really badly.

00:43:22.720 You can barely walk.

00:43:24.480 Right?

00:43:24.740 Let alone play anything.

00:43:26.640 Soccer, basketball, volleyball, whatever it is.

00:43:28.600 You can't do anything.

00:43:29.140 Doctor tells you to go home, sit up on the couch, rest your hammy.

00:43:34.900 Right?

00:43:35.520 Stay off of it.

00:43:36.600 Don't get up.

00:43:37.480 No sudden movements.

00:43:39.140 You're at home.

00:43:39.920 All of a sudden, a fire breaks out in the home.

00:43:43.600 Right?

00:43:44.320 Your kids are upstairs.

00:43:46.440 You know, wife is wherever she may be. 1.00

00:43:48.880 You know, shit's going down. 1.00

00:43:51.080 Right? 1.00

00:43:52.820 I'm willing to bet that you're going to forget about your hamstring.

00:43:56.440 You're going to sprint upstairs.

00:43:58.100 You're going to grab your kids.

00:43:59.680 You're going to make sure your wife's good.

00:44:00.880 You're getting out of that house.

00:44:02.440 Right? 0.99

00:44:03.460 Hamstring be damned. 0.99

00:44:04.320 You're not going to feel your hamstring. 0.99

00:44:06.340 Right?

00:44:06.760 And the reason is because the lives of your family are more important than the injury of your hamstring. 0.99

00:44:16.600 And so when the game is more important than the injury itself, you don't feel that damn injury. 0.97

00:44:21.760 Not at that time. 0.97

00:44:23.840 Yeah.

00:44:24.060 So you go to the locker room.

00:44:27.560 You guys had a shot that, you know, to go into the—

00:44:29.760 You guys were a team that no one wanted to face, even though there was conflict.

00:44:33.180 You know, maybe if you would have gone round one, who knows?

00:44:34.880 Maybe Dwight would have gone together, you know?

00:44:36.920 Who knows what was going to happen?

00:44:38.360 It's just—you were the kind of team that, look, it's just a pain in about to face these guys.

00:44:42.540 We're just hoping you don't make the playoffs, right?

00:44:44.360 I'm sure a lot of people were very happy that you guys didn't make the playoffs that year.

00:44:48.400 But you go into the locker room.

00:44:49.880 And then one of the reporters comes up to you, and he says to you,

00:44:54.780 Kobe, are you convinced that they told you it's probably torn Achilles?

00:44:58.740 They're going to do an MRI.

00:44:59.760 Are you pretty convinced that's what it is?

00:45:01.760 And your answer is, yeah.

00:45:03.980 Then one of the reporters says, but if anyone is going to get through this, it's probably you, right? 1.00

00:45:10.420 You put your head down, and you say, oh, man, shit, right? 1.00

00:45:13.480 And you have tears in your eyes. 1.00

00:45:14.380 Yeah. 1.00

00:45:14.580 Did you say, oh, man, shit, because everybody's expecting me to be invincible, man? 1.00

00:45:20.700 Like, freaking let me just play the damn game. 1.00

00:45:23.000 I'm a human being. 0.99

00:45:23.900 Is that kind of what you were thinking, or was it like, the world's expecting me to come back in the next month because I'm Kobe?

00:45:29.800 Like, what were you thinking at that moment with all that pressure?

00:45:32.180 I was thinking, like, I don't know if I can do this.

00:45:36.340 Wow.

00:45:36.700 Achilles were like the kiss of death. 0.64

00:45:38.440 Yes.

00:45:38.820 Athletes.

00:45:39.180 It's like, I don't know if I can do this.

00:45:43.560 I don't know.

00:45:44.480 There's so many factors.

00:45:45.600 There's the surgery that has to take place.

00:45:47.220 The surgery has to go well, right?

00:45:49.300 And then just it's a tendon.

00:45:50.720 I'm not dealing with anything that's muscular or things that I can control.

00:45:53.660 I can't control a tendon.

00:45:55.640 You know what I'm saying?

00:45:56.320 So, like, I don't know.

00:45:58.500 And then thinking about what that process of recovery is going to look like.

00:46:01.520 It's a long one. 1.00

00:46:02.860 Do I want to do that shit? 1.00

00:46:04.060 I don't know if I want to do it. 1.00

00:46:06.120 I don't know.

00:46:07.180 So, that was the hardest part.

00:46:09.180 You don't know if you want to do it or you don't know if you are going to be able to

00:46:13.140 come back from it.

00:46:13.980 Both.

00:46:14.440 I don't know if I can do it.

00:46:15.960 I don't know if I want to do it.

00:46:17.440 Got it.

00:46:18.160 It's a long, long process.

00:46:21.080 But, like, when I went in the trainer's room, my kids are in there.

00:46:25.160 And, you know, they're looking at you and stuff.

00:46:26.940 And I'm looking at them.

00:46:28.060 And I'm like, you know, it's all right.

00:46:29.680 Dad's going to be all right.

00:46:30.800 It'll be fine.

00:46:31.540 It'll be all right.

00:46:32.220 It'll be all right.

00:46:32.840 It'll be all right.

00:46:33.780 As a parent, you've got to set the example.

00:46:36.520 You've got to set the example.

00:46:37.480 This is another obstacle.

00:46:39.740 This obstacle cannot define me.

00:46:41.640 It's not going to cripple me.

00:46:42.820 It's not going to be responsible for me stepping away for the game that I love.

00:46:47.880 I'm going to step away on my own terms.

00:46:51.080 And that's when the decision was made that, you know what?

00:46:53.280 I'm doing it.

00:46:54.520 I'm doing it. 1.00

00:46:55.320 You're a freaking beast, man. 1.00

00:46:57.940 Yeah, yeah. 1.00

00:47:02.200 I notice a lot of times you go and you talk about, like, even the example you use right

00:47:06.220 now.

00:47:06.320 If your hamstrings are this, you're down, your wife's upstairs, your kids, you ain't going

00:47:09.140 to think about it.

00:47:09.620 So, did you have a lot of these scenarios where you use your wife and your kids to use as

00:47:14.400 no excuse, I'm going to get through this?

00:47:16.080 Was that a mental conversation you had that nobody could hear?

00:47:19.680 Yeah.

00:47:20.060 You've got to lead by example.

00:47:22.560 As parents, you've got to lead by example.

00:47:24.440 If you want your kids to do whatever it is they want to accomplish in life, you've got

00:47:28.820 to show them.

00:47:30.760 You can't.

00:47:31.220 You've got to show them.

00:47:34.860 And that's what I tried to do.

00:47:37.000 And you're obviously doing that, man, at a whole different level.

00:47:39.340 That's right.

00:47:39.580 Alter ego.

00:47:40.260 Let's do alter ego and then I want to kind of go into the story side and how you went

00:47:43.440 into the storytelling and you want to get it.

00:47:45.200 Guys, this guy won an Academy Award.

00:47:46.780 He's a basketball player.

00:47:47.820 How the hell does that make any sense, right? 0.93

00:47:50.220 It was a freaking Academy Award, right? 0.95

00:47:52.800 So, alter ego. 0.89

00:47:54.780 Alter ego.

00:47:55.320 You know, sometimes we are so worried about what other people think about us.

00:48:02.240 You know, it's like, oh my gosh, what if they think I'm crazy?

00:48:04.360 What if they think I'm over obsessive or competitive?

00:48:07.040 And what if this is like, you're too much.

00:48:08.780 This is just not healthy for you to be thinking this way, right?

00:48:11.140 Yeah. 0.94

00:48:11.800 How did you get your mindset into this alter ego to be comfortable being black mama? 1.00

00:48:17.300 Like, how did that happen?

00:48:18.600 It's a good separation for me, you know, emotionally to be able to put myself in a place where at practice

00:48:25.060 or when I'm training or doing games, I switch my mind to something else.

00:48:30.020 I switch my mode into something else, right?

00:48:32.560 For me, it's the equivalent of Maximus, Desmus, Meridius, and Gladiator picking up the dirt,

00:48:39.860 smelling the dirt, it's go time, right?

00:48:43.320 So, that was my mental switch.

00:48:45.100 It was like an actor getting ready for a film.

00:48:47.040 You got to put yourself in that cage.

00:48:49.480 When you're in that cage, you are that character.

00:48:52.420 And then when you leave there, it's something completely different. 1.00

00:48:54.400 But when I'm in that cage, bro, don't fucking touch me. 0.99

00:48:57.140 Don't talk to me. 1.00

00:48:59.160 Just leave me alone.

00:49:02.080 There used to be certain games, like, for, like, certain key games.

00:49:06.760 I don't think I've ever said this before.

00:49:09.120 This kind of makes me seem very psychotic, but whatever.

00:49:13.080 I used to play the Halloween theme song over and over and over in my headphones.

00:49:20.460 Pre-game.

00:49:22.040 Seriously.

00:49:22.480 Seriously.

00:49:24.440 Seriously.

00:49:25.280 And it was important that it was Michael Myers because the mask itself was void of emotion.

00:49:31.700 Void of emotion. 0.86

00:49:32.720 That's psychotic.

00:49:33.360 It has nothing to do with pressure.

00:49:33.820 It has nothing to do with hype.

00:49:34.920 It has nothing to do with camaraderie.

00:49:37.320 It's stone cold killer.

00:49:39.040 And I would listen to that song over and over and over.

00:49:41.680 That's when you know you better run because that's what a lot of people did.

00:49:47.600 Yeah.

00:49:47.800 It's probably coming out.

00:49:48.640 It's going to be a tough night.

00:49:50.040 Yeah.

00:49:50.220 So, Kobe, you've probably made, in this 50-minute conversation, I don't know, 12 metaphors.

00:49:58.200 So, typically people that make metaphors, they're storytellers.

00:50:02.020 To them, everything has to paint a picture.

00:50:03.560 And from day one, you're talking about you were very curious, right?

00:50:07.620 So, when you finish the last game you had, and I'll never forget, we were having a training,

00:50:12.400 by the way, in Dallas, and we finished it.

00:50:14.200 This was three years ago.

00:50:16.280 And my sister and I get home.

00:50:18.060 It's 1230.

00:50:18.680 I was hoping I could catch the game.

00:50:19.940 It's your last game.

00:50:20.640 You're playing Utah.

00:50:21.500 Yeah.

00:50:22.120 And I'm standing up the entire time.

00:50:24.300 I'm getting the last four minutes, which is the best freaking four minutes.

00:50:26.860 And I see a shot saying, go for 50, and then you're just going.

00:50:31.540 And you're not hitting easy shots.

00:50:32.920 These are not easy shots.

00:50:34.400 Right.

00:50:34.820 You hit your last shot.

00:50:36.440 You scored six.

00:50:37.600 Guys, nobody has ever had a 60-point game to retire with.

00:50:43.840 Like, that has never happened.

00:50:45.760 Like, it's insane for this to happen.

00:50:48.420 You hit your 60 points.

00:50:50.840 I got to say this.

00:50:52.280 My sisters in the room, Kobe, I got tears coming down and watching you.

00:50:56.500 When this happens, because 20 years I've been following this guy, and I relate to you because

00:51:01.020 in the insurance world, I take a lot of your similarity.

00:51:04.740 You may be in a complete different world.

00:51:05.960 I'm looking at the world here, and it's just like seeing this guy, he's so freaking determined

00:51:10.180 to see.

00:51:10.540 I came and gave everything I had, and I'm going to give it to the last freaking second.

00:51:14.340 That's what you did.

00:51:15.440 But then you leave, and you're like, no, it's good.

00:51:19.200 I'm cool.

00:51:20.160 You tell your story.

00:51:21.180 You give your message.

00:51:22.160 Everybody's flipping out.

00:51:23.400 You're like, no, Kobe's going to come back.

00:51:24.980 No.

00:51:25.200 Kobe, and you're going, and you're going to your storytelling and all this stuff.

00:51:28.480 How did that disconnect and going into that go?

00:51:31.300 And you're still helping out a lot of players.

00:51:33.080 You're always advising Lakers.

00:51:34.620 You know, Genie calls you.

00:51:35.420 Anybody calls you, you're helping out, no problem.

00:51:37.300 But how did that adjustment go from there to all of a sudden, man, I got to go tell stories.

00:51:41.820 How did that happen?

00:51:42.700 Because I love it.

00:51:44.100 So, you know, it started for me again in high school when I started learning about storytelling,

00:51:48.200 writing, how to structure a story, how to put together, how to thread together a narrative

00:51:53.680 that has a bigger message, how to create compelling characters, how to take some of the emotions

00:51:58.340 from my own journey and instill them into characters that inspire or teach the next generation.

00:52:04.840 Therefore, they can avoid some of the pitfalls and landmines that I had to go through.

00:52:10.020 That's something I'm extremely passionate about.

00:52:11.980 So I loved it.

00:52:13.060 So it wasn't a matter of, man, I got to, you know, I got to put this aside.

00:52:17.100 I got to move on to something else.

00:52:18.180 I was excited.

00:52:19.780 I can't wait to get started.

00:52:21.240 I can't wait to move on and do something else.

00:52:23.740 And everybody kept saying, man, like, my wife asked me one time, we were filling out a form

00:52:29.940 for school, and it said, all right, father, occupation.

00:52:34.900 She's like, what am I supposed to put down?

00:52:42.320 You know, I'm a storyteller.

00:52:45.040 You want me to write storyteller on your kid's form?

00:52:49.160 Wow.

00:52:49.460 Yeah, I guess.

00:52:51.720 I mean, that's what I'm doing.

00:52:52.660 She goes, dude, really?

00:52:55.420 All right, fine.

00:52:56.080 Just put producer.

00:52:57.000 I don't know.

00:52:57.920 Right?

00:52:58.260 But during that year, everybody kept coming up to me and saying, okay, you're going to

00:53:02.360 have stages of grief when you retire.

00:53:04.360 You're going to go into a state of depression when you retire.

00:53:07.200 And those are all normal and all this other stuff.

00:53:09.660 And I'm like, dude, I'm fine.

00:53:12.340 Yes, of course you would say that.

00:53:13.840 I said that too. 1.00

00:53:14.600 I'm like, dude, fuck, man. 1.00

00:53:16.940 And so after a while, I just started listening. 1.00

00:53:18.980 Like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:53:21.540 Mm-hmm.

00:53:22.180 Mm-hmm.

00:53:22.660 Mm-hmm.

00:53:23.160 Mm-hmm.

00:53:24.660 Mm-hmm.

00:53:26.500 Mm-hmm.

00:53:28.040 Mm-hmm.

00:53:29.500 Mm-hmm.

00:53:30.420 And, you know, and then my competitiveness inside was like, no, I'm going to do something

00:53:36.180 in the next 20 years that is better than these last 20.

00:53:39.000 You might not understand that.

00:53:40.440 I'm doing that.

00:53:41.800 You know?

00:53:42.960 You know?

00:53:43.460 So the competitiveness kicks in.

00:53:45.300 Yeah.

00:53:49.000 You've gone.

00:53:49.780 Same determination.

00:53:51.240 What's your current work schedule look like today?

00:53:54.380 It's different because I personally am not writing every word of the novels.

00:54:02.860 I am not animating the films.

00:54:07.200 What I have to do now is make sure that the people that we bring in, these obsessives that

00:54:12.320 we bring in, are challenging themselves to do the best job that they think they can do.

00:54:18.520 That's what I'm there for, is for them to constantly look in the mirror and self-assess and challenge

00:54:25.600 themselves.

00:54:26.120 If we have a project and you're saying, okay, I can do that, that's not the project we want.

00:54:33.880 The projects that say, I don't know if I can animate that.

00:54:37.540 I don't know how to write that story.

00:54:40.980 I don't know how to do that.

00:54:43.020 Those are the things we want because through that curiosity, you'll reach a level that you

00:54:48.200 didn't think was possible.

00:54:50.460 And so running the studio, that's what I'm doing.

00:54:52.940 Are you a big movie guy?

00:54:58.480 You're huge.

00:54:59.280 Okay, so how do you watch movies?

00:55:01.720 Like, you know, my experience is people watch movies in many different ways.

00:55:04.920 Not everybody watches movies the same way.

00:55:07.120 When you're watching movies, how are you watching a movie?

00:55:10.020 I watch them multiple times and I wear different hats every time.

00:55:13.680 So the first time I watch it, I watch it just as a fan for pure entertainment value.

00:55:17.540 Then I watch it from the director's lens and see why he made some of the decisions or she

00:55:21.840 made some of the decisions that she made for the film.

00:55:24.840 And then I look at the lighting.

00:55:27.060 Lighting?

00:55:27.600 Oh yeah, lighting is extremely important.

00:55:29.480 Of course.

00:55:29.680 Oh yeah.

00:55:30.520 Then I listen to the music.

00:55:32.760 And then you can challenge yourself by really understanding the director's point of view if

00:55:36.600 you watch a film without music and without sound.

00:55:38.960 Then you can actually see the film for what it is.

00:55:43.580 So I watch it at different stages.

00:55:45.680 I mean, obviously, Academy Awards that you won, the gentleman you hired for the sound,

00:55:50.880 wasn't it John?

00:55:51.620 Is it John Williams?

00:55:53.040 John Williams.

00:55:53.640 Right?

00:55:53.980 And John Williams is like the goat in his world.

00:55:56.660 Bro, he's the modern day Beethoven.

00:55:58.880 Yeah.

00:55:59.260 I mean, this guy's composed.

00:56:01.460 Any song right now that you can remember from a film, he's done.

00:56:04.920 Superman theme, did that.

00:56:07.540 Indiana Jones, did that.

00:56:09.540 Jaws, did that. 0.97

00:56:11.500 Harry Potter, did that.

00:56:13.280 The Olympics theme, did that too.

00:56:15.640 I mean, the list goes on and on and on and on.

00:56:19.100 And, you know, he's like 85 years old.

00:56:21.580 That's crazy.

00:56:22.320 Yeah, man.

00:56:23.020 That's crazy.

00:56:23.860 He's doing a new Star Wars film now.

00:56:26.200 Oh, Star Wars too, that part.

00:56:28.400 He did that one too.

00:56:30.200 Yeah.

00:56:30.340 So, when you say recruiting and putting your team together with your projects today,

00:56:35.400 who are you recruiting?

00:56:36.940 Like, you know, if you're putting a basketball team together, you need a GM, president, you

00:56:41.260 know, trainers, all this stuff, assistant, good coach.

00:56:44.300 What do you need right now when you're putting it together?

00:56:45.720 Like, for example, right now, building out an animation house, right?

00:56:49.500 So, you got to start with the head of the snake.

00:56:51.680 You got to look at the person that better understands the type of animation that you want to create.

00:56:57.120 And they have to be obsessives, have to have a knowledge base, a historical knowledge base.

00:57:06.220 Because I love people that understand the history of their industry, ins and outs of it all.

00:57:11.660 And then you bring that person into the picture.

00:57:14.980 And then you allow them to do what you brought them in to do.

00:57:18.780 So, you leave them alone.

00:57:19.700 Kind of like Phil left you guys alone.

00:57:21.280 I'm not going to hire you to tell you how to do your job.

00:57:23.600 Got it.

00:57:23.900 So, recruiting, obviously, in the league, you were known as a great recruiter.

00:57:28.940 So, what is your recruiting approach?

00:57:30.560 So, if you're sitting down with me, I'm somebody you really want, you really want me on the team.

00:57:34.640 What's your approach to recruit me?

00:57:36.220 You want first place, come play with me.

00:57:38.000 You want second place, go somewhere else.

00:57:42.960 This is too much fun here.

00:57:46.800 Final thoughts, man.

00:57:49.060 What are we going to see with Kobe next 20 years?

00:57:52.100 What other projects have you got in mind that you're working on right now?

00:57:54.200 The biggest challenge for us is looking at the entertainment industry and how to diversify it.

00:58:00.380 Particularly in animation, but also in writing.

00:58:03.220 In young YA novels, middle grade novels, how to create more diverse characters, how do we have better representation, how do we create better opportunities, not just ethnicity, but also gender diversity.

00:58:17.840 I have four girls, right?

00:58:19.940 So, my mission is to make sure women have opportunities that they haven't been afforded. 1.00

00:58:27.340 That is my, I mean, I'm the father of four girls.

00:58:32.400 So, that is my next obsession, is how do we lead that charge from the front?

00:58:38.540 How do we take an animation industry that lacks in diversity, substantially lacks in diversity?

00:58:46.200 How do we take some of those old animation techniques and teach a whole new generation of animators to come in and create films that inspire the world?

00:58:55.460 And we're getting after it.

00:58:58.000 I think everybody knows crystal clear Kobe's going to get whatever Kobe wants.

00:59:02.500 That's crystal clear, man.

00:59:04.080 Brother, appreciate you for coming out.

00:59:05.980 And truly, this has been a blast.

00:59:07.240 Make some noise.

00:59:07.880 Kobe Bryant.

00:59:08.660 Thank you.

00:59:09.240 Thanks, everybody, for listening.

00:59:10.680 And by the way, if you haven't already subscribed to Valuetainment on iTunes, please do so.

00:59:15.040 Give us a five-star, write a review if you haven't already.

00:59:18.220 And if you have any questions for me that you may have, you can always find me on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

00:59:24.240 Just search my name, PatrickVidDavid.

00:59:26.140 And I actually do respond back when you snap me or send me a message on Instagram.

00:59:31.120 With that being said, have a great day today.

00:59:32.860 Take care, everybody.

00:59:33.580 Bye-bye.

Valuetainment - October 04, 2019

Episode 375： Kobe Bryant Untold Stories with Patrick Bet-David

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