The Kobe Bryant work ethic stories circulating the web could fill a library. Regardless, these anecdotes are part of the Black Mamba’s legend and a source of inspiration for professional athletes and average Joes. Here is another one recounted by an athletic trainer named Robert in 2013.
Although the original Reddit post is no longer around, Robert introduced himself as a long-time athletic trainer associated with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. He activated his Reddit account when Bryant, soon to be 35, was still tearing up the league in his 17th season. For him, the only explanation was Kobe’s work ethic, which he witnessed firsthand in 2008.
“I was invited to Las Vegas this past Summer (2008) to help Team USA with their conditioning before they head off to London, and as we know they would eventually bring home the Gold (USA),” the Redditor began . “I’ve had the opportunity to work with Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade in the past but this would be my first interaction with Kobe. We first met three days before the first scrimmage, on the day of the first practice, early July.
“It was a brief conversation where we talked about conditioning, where he would like to be by the end of the Summer, and we talked a little bit about the hustle of the Select Team. Then he got my number, and I let him know that if he ever wanted some extra training, he could hit me up any time,” added Robert.
4 AM Workouts
The 18-time NBA All-Star is more than willing to forego hours of sleep to train and work on his game. If Robert had heard his famed 4 AM workouts before, he was about to get a dose of it himself.
Here’s how the strength and conditioning coach remembered the sequence of events:
“The night before the first scrimmage, I remember I had just watched “Casablanca” for the first time, and it was about 3:30 AM. I lay in bed, slowly fading away when I hear my cell ring. It was Kobe. I nervously picked up.”
“Hey, uhh Rob, I hope I’m not disturbing anything right?”
“Uhh no, what’s up Kob?”
“Just wondering if you could just help me out with some conditioning work, that’s all.”
I checked my clock. 4:15 AM.
“Yeah sure, I’ll see you in the facility in a bit.”
“It took me about twenty minutes to get my gear and out of the hotel. When I arrived and opened the room to the main practice floor I saw Kobe. Alone. He was drenched in sweat as if he had just taken a swim. It wasn’t even 5AM.”
“We did some conditioning work for the next hour and fifteen minutes. Then we entered the weight room, where he would do a multitude of strength training exercises for the next 45 minutes. After that, we parted ways, and he went back to the practice floor to shoot. I went back to the hotel and crashed. Wow.”
Believe it or not, the 4 AM workout wasn’t even the highlight of this work ethic story.
“What time did you leave the facility?”
Rob was expected to be back in the facility by 11, so he had less than four hours to doze off, wake up, eat something, and prepare for an intense scrimmage. As he recalled, he was still woozy from sleep deprivation.
“This next part I remember very vividly,” Robert continued. “All the Team USA players were there, feeling good for the first scrimmage. LeBron was talking to Carmelo, if I remember correctly, and Coach Krzyzewski was trying to explain something to Kevin Durant. On the right side of the practice facility was Kobe by himself shooting jumpers. And this is how our next conversation went – I went over to him, patted him on the back and said, “Good work this morning.”
Little did he know that small talk with Kobe would give him the biggest surprise of his career. Here’s how the conversation went:
“Huh?” Kobe asked.
“Like, the conditioning. Good work.”
“Oh. Yeah, thanks, Rob. I really appreciate it.”
“So when did you finish?” Robert asked Kobe.
“Finish what?”
“Getting your shots up. What time did you leave the facility?”
“Oh, just now. I wanted 800 makes, so yeah, just now.”
“My Jaw Dropped”
In 16 years of athletic training experience, Robert has not seen anything like what this guy just did. Kobe showed up seven hours early for a Team USA scrimmage! While he was dozing off from exhaustion, the 2008 NBA MVP was working his behind off without letup.
“My jaw dropped. Mother of holy God. It was then that I realized that there’s no surprise to why he’s been as effective as he was last season,” Robert said in disbelief. “Every story about his dedication, every quote that he’s said about hard work all came together and hit me like a train. It’s no surprise to me now that he’s dunking on players ten years younger than him, and it wasn’t a surprise to me earlier this year when he led the league in scoring.”
That season was the last peak-form Kobe fans have seen. He tore his Achilles tendon trying to will the Lakers to the playoffs, which was practically the beginning of the end of Bryant’s legendary career. In 72 games in 2012-13, Mamba averaged 27.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, six assists, and 1.4 steals.
What Kobe did wasn’t just raising the bar. He made sure no one could touch it, as far as work ethic is concerned.
Related: JJ Redick recalls working out with Kobe Bryant: “All those stories about Kobe being a psycho worker they're all true”
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