re: First hand experience on Kobe's work ethic from an Olympics trainer

quote:

---

It's crazy as hard as he works, Lebron's still better on sheer genetics and athleticism alone.

---

I hate this shite.

LeBron works his arse off. Just because he's a gifted athlete, there are marked improvements in his game that have nothing to do with his ability to run fast and jump high.

Michael Wilbon had this stupid arse statement after the Finals when the Heat lost to Dallas that Kevin Durant and MAYBE Derrick Rose were the only two young players in basketball that really work hard to improve their games. Such bullshite.

Yea but does Kobe listen to Imagine Dragons and talk to Dr. Dre while working out? Probably not bc his workouts, much like his game, are one dimensional

Kobe
Gotta respect him not being content with what he has already accomplished.

And to the comment about only Durant and one other player being the only players in the NBA really trying to improve their game that is ridiculous. I'd say almost EVERY player in the NBA works to truly improve their game and is more dedicated to the sport than we could ever imagine or they wouldn't be in the NBA in the first place.

quote:

---

shite I used to do that in HS! It's way more impressive to be doing it when you are in your 30s and have over 100 million and are world famous,

---

This. People underestimate his ability to never be content.

How many of these dudes on this board would never do shite again if they made just 1 million

quote:

---

The most obvious example of that is his footwork. Kobe has the best footwork in the game. If Lebron had footwork like that, it would be insane.

---

Yeh, and IF Kobe could pass like lebron he would be insane and not one dimensional. I just honestly think if we actually watched Kobe, lebron, Durant etc workout, we wouldn't see much of a difference. But who knows

quote:

---

Im not saying Kobe doesnt work hard as hell, im sure he does. But I have a hard time believing Lebron doesnt work his arse off as well

---

this story isn't about working hard but more about how great players sometimes have to be a little selfish. Couple years ago when the lakers were in town to play the hornets we sat in a friends suite. Suite owner are allowed to go down courtside and are allowed in an hour before regular ticket holders. Anyway the lakers came out to shoot and no Kobe. After about 20 minutes the rest of the guys left and kobe was out there by himself with 5 ball boys feeding him balls to shoot. He must have shot 100 shots. It was crazy. We actually talked to him while he was shooting and he didn't big league at all.

GOAT

Lebron don't practice:

quote:

---

The young James couldn't shoot, couldn't shoot a lick. He used to change his form midway through games, would alter how high he would jump on a whim, and fire the ball up from anywhere on the court without always having a reason. When there was a layer of pressure added, that inconsistency ate at his results and dimmed his confidence, a recipe that observers used like a whip to attack his ability to perform in the clutch.

Even when James occasionally got hot, as he did one incredible night in Detroit in 2007, there was a greater chance element than he would've preferred to admit.

He could always dunk with the power that his frame allowed. And he could always flip in shots from impossible angles around the rim, a product of a preternatural gift of touch and ambidexterity. But for a long time he shot like a high schooler, and that was never going to do.

The poetry of these NBA Finals was that James displayed his years of effort in eradicating that younger version against the team that forced him to look in the mirror. After those 2007 Finals, which were basically an unmasking of the James mystique after the in-their-prime Spurs embarrassed him, James found a new dedication to mastering that broken jumper.

He took Cavs assistant coach Chris Jent with him wherever he went over the next few summers as if he were a roadie. When James was on vacation, he and Jent shot. When James was filming a commercial, time was built into the schedule for he and Jent to shoot. When James went to China on business with Nike, it was understood that there always had to be a court and there always had to be some hours to shoot with Jent.

It became an obsession like that 36 percent shooting in his first Finals became an albatross. It wasn't 10,000 hours, it might've been more. And up and up came the numbers, and closer and closer did James come to his ceiling.

---

quote:

---

The young James couldn't shoot, couldn't shoot a lick. He used to change his form midway through games, would alter how high he would jump on a whim, and fire the ball up from anywhere on the court without always having a reason. When there was a layer of pressure added, that inconsistency ate at his results and dimmed his confidence, a recipe that observers used like a whip to attack his ability to perform in the clutch.

Even when James occasionally got hot, as he did one incredible night in Detroit in 2007, there was a greater chance element than he would've preferred to admit.

He could always dunk with the power that his frame allowed. And he could always flip in shots from impossible angles around the rim, a product of a preternatural gift of touch and ambidexterity. But for a long time he shot like a high schooler, and that was never going to do.

The poetry of these NBA Finals was that James displayed his years of effort in eradicating that younger version against the team that forced him to look in the mirror. After those 2007 Finals, which were basically an unmasking of the James mystique after the in-their-prime Spurs embarrassed him, James found a new dedication to mastering that broken jumper.

He took Cavs assistant coach Chris Jent with him wherever he went over the next few summers as if he were a roadie. When James was on vacation, he and Jent shot. When James was filming a commercial, time was built into the schedule for he and Jent to shoot. When James went to China on business with Nike, it was understood that there always had to be a court and there always had to be some hours to shoot with Jent.

It became an obsession like that 36 percent shooting in his first Finals became an albatross. It wasn't 10,000 hours, it might've been more. And up and up came the numbers, and closer and closer did James come to his ceiling.

---

This is my point, there is a multitude of players that have stories like these. The media wants us to view Kobe as the hard worker/assassin, so they ask questions to other players in order to get this story line. I like Kobe, and think he does work like a maniac, i just believe others do as well. I just truly believe the media likes to pick certain story lines for certain players and run with it. Similar to Phil being the lovable doofus and Tiger being the arse; however, multiple reports from actual players claim the opposite