Young Kobe Was CONFIDENT

Barely a teen, Kobe Bryant was out there putting in work with pros

We’ve all heard the stories of how confident and strong-willed Kobe Bryant was when he was a 17-year-old kid working out for NBA teams.

And we’ve definitely heard the stories of how bold he was when he was an 18-year-old rookie competing in his first-ever NBA playoffs.

But did you know that Kobe knew he belonged and was capable of competing with the pros when he was 15?

Yup. You read that correctly.

On the Old Man and the Three podcast, former NBA player Tim Legler told a story of a young teenage Kobe Bryant playing pick-up ball with NBA prospects and pros.

He said that Kobe wasn’t at those gyms to admire these pro basketball players. Rather, he was there to work out with them and to improve his game.

“The thing that stood out to me over the course of that summer playing games that he was involved in was… like to think about being 15 years old first of all just in general… how you view yourself, right? The confidence level to step on a floor with those types of players and grown men is a whole other thing. 

“I remember playing pick-up ball and a guy would bring his son, [he would be] like, ‘Hey, you guys mind if Michael plays?’ [I would be] ‘Like, no that’s fine.’ And the kid would you know hide, but run up and down the floor. No, no, Kobe was out there, like, ‘no, I’m out here to do work.’ At that age.”

How much more of a Kobe story could this be?

NBA Newswire

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