Kobe Bryant Quotes

“A lot of leaders fail because they don’t have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord.”

“Dedication sees dreams come true.”

“Everything negative -- pressure, challenges -- is all an opportunity for me to rise.”

“Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.”

“I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you.”

“I create my own path. It was straight and narrow. I looked at it this way: you were either in my way, or out of it.”

“I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.”

“I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success. Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses.”

“I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I'm like, 'My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don't have it. I just want to chill.' We all have self-doubt. You don't deny it, but you also don't capitulate to it. You embrace it.”

“I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.”

“I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. No matter what the injury -- unless it's completely debilitating -- I'm going to be the same player I've always been. I'll figure it out. I'll make some tweaks, some changes, but I'm still coming.”

“I've played with IVs before, during and after games. I've played with a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a torn shoulder, a fractured tooth, a severed lip, and a knee the size of a softball. I don't miss 15 games because of a toe injury that everybody knows wasn't that serious in the first place.”

“I’m extremely willful to win, and I respond to challenges. It’s not a challenge to me to win the scoring title, because I know I can.”

“I’m reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.”

“I’ve shot too much from the time I was 8 years old. But ‘too much’ is a matter of perspective. Some people thought Mozart had too many notes in his compositions. Let me put it this way: I entertain people who say I shoot too much. I find it very interesting. Going back to Mozart, he responded to critics by saying there were neither too many notes or too few. There were as many as necessary.”

“If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail.”

“It’s the one thing you can control. You are responsible for how people remember you—or don’t. So don’t take it lightly.”

“Leadership is lonely… I’m not going to be afraid of confrontation to get us to where we need to go. There’s a big misconception where people thinking winning or success comes from everybody putting their arms around each other and singing kumbaya and patting them on the back when they mess up, and that’s just not reality. If you are going to be a leader, you are not going to please everybody. You have to hold people accountable. Even if you have that moment of being uncomfortable.”

“My brain... it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I sit there and have to face myself and tell myself, ‘You’re a failure’. I think that’s almost worse than death.”

“My parents are my backbone. Still are. They’re the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40.”

“Once you know what failure feels like, determination chases success.”

“Pain doesn’t tell you when you ought to stop. Pain is the little voice in your head that tries to hold you back because it knows if you continue you will change.”

“The beauty in being blessed with talent is rising above doubters to create a beautiful moment.”

“The important thing is that your teammates have to know you're pulling for them and you really want them to be successful.”

“The last time I was intimidated was when I was 6 years old in karate class. I was an orange belt and the instructor ordered me to fight a black belt who was a couple years older and a lot bigger. I was scared shitless. I mean, I was terrified and he kicked my ass. But then I realized he didn't kick my ass as bad as I thought he was going to and that there was nothing really to be afraid of. That was around the time I realized that intimidation didn't really exist if you're in the right frame of mind.”

“The moment you give up, is the moment you let someone else win.”

“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do.”

“The most important thing is you must put everybody on notice that you’re here and you are for real.”

“The process of it drives me to come back. I want to see if I can. I don’t know if I can. I want to find out. I want to see. I’m going to do what I always do: I’m going to break it down to its smallest form, smallest detail, and go after it. Day by day, one day at a time.”

“There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something, there’s a choice you have to make. We all can be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that. Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with making that decision.”