110+ Kobe Bryant Quotes: Life Lessons on the Mamba Mentality

Kobe Bryant was an American professional basketball player who played his entire 20-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive team, and the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player. Bryant won five NBA championships and was the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Kobe Bryant on losing, hard work, failure.

Top 10 Kobe Bryant Quotes

1. These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.
2. I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success.
3. Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.
4. It's not about the number of hours you practice, it's about the number of hours your mind is present during the practice
5. 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.
6. Heroes come and go, but legends are forever.
7. 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.
8. Dropkick Murphys get me going, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana... plus, all the regular hip-hop stuff.
9. I wear the number 10 Jersey for the US National Team in honour of the Greatest athlete I have ever seen: Messi.
10. We all know what flopping is when we see it. The stuff that you see is where guys aren't really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water.

Kobe Bryant Short Quotes

• If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail.
• You have to be true to who you are.
• He shouldn't have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard.
• Everyone looks at your watch and it represents who you are, your values and your personal style.
• Winning takes precedence over all. There's no gray area. No almosts.
• If I panic, everyone else panics.
• I'm chasing perfection.
• I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.
• I focus on one thing and one thing only - that's trying to win as many championships as I can.
• I don't talk trash often, but when I do, I go for the jugular.

Kobe Bryant Quotes About Failure

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. — Kobe Bryant

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. — Kobe Bryant

My brain cannot process failure... It WILL not process failure — Kobe Bryant

You can't be held captive by the fear of failure or the fear of what people may say. — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant Quotes About Inspirational

The most important thing, the thing that unites all of us, is that we can INSPIRE and CHALLENGE one another TO BE BETTER. — Kobe Bryant

The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do. — Kobe Bryant

You always have to be on edge. You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last. — Kobe Bryant

The guy said NBA players are one in a million, ... I said, 'Man, look, I'm going to be that one in a million. — Kobe Bryant

It doesn't bother me at all. Do I hold any hard feelings? Not at all, ... Life is too short to sit around and hold grudges. I don't hold any whatsoever. — Kobe Bryant

I enjoy playing at the heart of it is just a kid who really loves playing the game of basketball. — Kobe Bryant

Each moment of my life I was dreaming of how great I could be, and continued working hard. Each time I closed my eyes I could see me shining bright like a sun. — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant Quotes About People

Eeew, I'd be a little uncomfortable Googling myself. People sit there - and Google themselves? That's kind of weird. — Kobe Bryant

What people see on court is another side of me; it's not me. — Kobe Bryant

People just don't understand how obsessed I am with winning. — Kobe Bryant

It never bothered me when people would say, 'You only win championships because you're playing with Shaq.' It bothered me when he said it. — Kobe Bryant

I'm not the most patient of people. — Kobe Bryant

The people who truly know me know what I'm like. There have been people who try to say things that aren't fair, and I check them. And then they don't like me because I checked them. — Kobe Bryant

I grew up in front of these people, and now they are seeing me as an 'older' young man. — Kobe Bryant

I have my own identity ... The whole Michael thing does drive me nuts sometimes because people won't leave it alone. He's bald, I have hair. He's almost 40, I'm 22. Seriously though, I wish people would let it be and let me just be Kobe. — Kobe Bryant

The dumbest decisions of all time are made when people are trying to be smart about the simple things — Kobe Bryant

When I'm finished playing, I want people to say, 'He handled this well, he kept his cool.' — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant Quotes About Stuff

At the end of 2003, my game was complete. Shooting, defense, using the dribble, transition, midrange stuff was all there. Then it was about fine-tuning and trying to improve in each area. — Kobe Bryant

I'm extremely willful to win, and I respond to challenges. Scoring titles and stuff like that... it sounds, well, I don't care how it sounds - to me, scoring comes easy. It's not a challenge to me to win the scoring title, because I know I can. — Kobe Bryant

There's a difference [between taking a charge and flopping]. We all know what flopping is when we see it. The stuff that you see is where guys aren't really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water. That's kind of like, where are your balls at? — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant Quotes About Challenges

I don't just try to score. The challenge is elevating my teammates to be able to win a championship. — Kobe Bryant

Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise. — Kobe Bryant

It's wonderful for the players. It's a huge challenge and a huge responsibility for us to get our act together, get our butts in gear. Phil isn't going to bail us out because of our mental lapses. — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant Quotes About Playing

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. — Kobe Bryant

I like playing for the purple and gold. This is where I want to finish up. — Kobe Bryant

I didn't expect this award [the 2008 MVP] would come to me. I'm surprised. I've played pretty well in other seasons. Our team hasn't been as good. Things just fell into place. — Kobe Bryant

You just try to take it one day at a time, ... You step on the basketball floor and just play. It's fun. I'm comfortable with it. — Kobe Bryant

I played T-Mac. I cooked him. Roasted him. Wasn't even close. — Kobe Bryant

I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition-that's what I've always wanted. — Kobe Bryant

A lot of times things get blown out of proportion in a negative light, especially in the NBA, ... But there are a lot of players in the NBA who really care about the community and want to use their basketball-playing ability for a good cause. — Kobe Bryant

The motivation for me is just the game itself, just playing the game the right way and trying to win, compete every time I step out there on the floor. That's motivation enough for me to go out there and play well. — Kobe Bryant

It doesn't matter to me what place I get traded to. If I was traded someplace - I'd play anywhere. — Kobe Bryant

I know how to play my guard spot, ... He can worry about the low post. — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant Quotes About Basketball

I realize now that there's a strength in dunking that I can use to my advantage. When you dunk all the time it isn't as demoralizing to the opponent, but when you dunk at a key moment in the game you can use it to change the momentum. — Kobe Bryant

Basketball is my refuge, my sanctuary. I go back to being a kid on the playground. When I get here, it's all good. — Kobe Bryant

As far as carrying the torch for the years to come, I don't know. I just want to be the best basketball player I can be. — Kobe Bryant

Dear Basketball, From the moment I started rolling my dad's tube socks and shooting imaginary game-winning shots ... I fell in love with you. — Kobe Bryant

The party's just getting started. This is where the fun starts. — Kobe Bryant

In an individual sport, yes, you have to win titles. Baseball's different. But basketball, hockey? One person can control the tempo of a game, can completely alter the momentum of a series. There's a lot of great individual talent. — Kobe Bryant

It really doesn't matter to me. We're just talking about clothes. I can understand what the NBA is trying to do. I love my sneakers, but we're just talking about clothes. — Kobe Bryant

Just got one more than Shaq. You can take that to the bank. — Kobe Bryant

You have to be able to separate business from the love of the game. There were a lot of decisions made business-wise that I wasn't happy with, and I took a lot of blame over the years. But you have to be able to separate that from the love you have for the game. — Kobe Bryant

Horrible, terrible AAU basketball. It's stupid. It doesn't teach our kids how to play the game at all so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don't know how to post. They don't know the fundamentals of the game. It's stupid. — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant Famous Quotes And Sayings

You're my backbone. You're a blessing. You're a piece of my heart. You're the air I breathe. And you're the strongest person I know, and I'm so sorry for having to put you through this and having to put our family through this. — Kobe Bryant

Love me or hate me, it's one or the other. Always has been. Hate my game, my swagger. Hate my fadeaway, my hunger. Hate that I'm a veteran. A champion. Hate that. Hate it with all your heart. And hate that I'm loved, for the exact same reasons. — Kobe Bryant

Can I jump over two or three guys like I used to? No. Am I as fast as I used to be? No, but I still have the fundamentals and smarts. That's what enables me to still be a dominant player. As a kid growing up, I never skipped steps. I always worked on fundamentals because I know athleticism is fleeting. — Kobe Bryant

When you love something, you'll always come back to it. You'll always keep asking questions, and finding answers. — Kobe Bryant

My parents are my backbone. Still are. They're the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40. — Kobe Bryant

I wouldn’t say I’m a ball hog. I’m a shooter. I don’t necessarily hog the ball, but I put them up though. I definitely much rather shoot it than pass it. That’s just how I am. — Kobe Bryant

I was probably born a scorer, but I was made a winner. Whatever works, whatever wins championships, wins games, that's what I do. — Kobe Bryant

Once you open your eyes and start looking around you, you start picking up things that are very obvious. — Kobe Bryant

One thing you gotta know about me is I have absolutely no filter. I have no problem saying what the hell I think of someone. — Kobe Bryant

You want a CEO that understands they need to build a team around them that's sharper and smarter than they are. — Kobe Bryant

Teach players the game at an early age and stop treating them like cash cows for everyone to profit off of. — Kobe Bryant

Difficulty is a nurse of greatness-a harsh nurse, who rocks her foster children roughly, but rocks them in strength and athletic proportion. The mind, grappling with great aims and wrestling with mighty impediments, grows by a certain necessity to the stature of greatness. — Kobe Bryant

Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they've taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences. — Kobe Bryant

What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection... and if I don't get it, I'm going to get this close. — Kobe Bryant

The hunger [to success] is the same, no matter what it is that you're doing. It's like an unquenchable thirst to learn more, or to feel like you could have done more, and to be brutally honest and self critical, which is very hard to do. It's easy, and human nature is to just blame somebody else. It's very, very hard to self assess. — Kobe Bryant

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

There's been a lot of talk of me being a one-man show but that's simply not the case. We win games when I score 40 points and we've won when I score 10. — Kobe Bryant

Being a leader, it's the art of trying to find the balance, the right times with each individual and what they need at that moment. It requires looking outward as opposed to looking inside. — Kobe Bryant

If there were camera phones back in the day, the biggest athletes in the world would have had a lot of explaining to do. — Kobe Bryant

It’s not a question of if we make the playoffs; we will. And when we get there, I have no fear of anyone. — Kobe Bryant

Are you willing to push the right buttons even if it means being perceived as the villain? … I'd rather be perceived as a winner than a good teammate. I wish they both went hand in hand all the time but that's just not reality. … I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success. — Kobe Bryant

The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don't have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven't had that fear. — Kobe Bryant

Diligent accumulation of personal wealth is not inherently ungodly so long as it is complemented by equally diligent distribution of personal wealth. — Kobe Bryant

I'm more than comfortable just sitting back and scoring 21, 22 points or whatever and getting 10, 11 assists whatever the case might be. More than comfortable with that. It's just a matter of the pieces that you have around you and what you can do to elevate everybody else. — Kobe Bryant

I'm reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose. — Kobe Bryant

The Kobe 8 is about enhanced performance. It's the most comfortable shoe I have worn. It's simplistic but has an edge to it. — Kobe Bryant

You can't go and anticipate what it is that you want to see. You just have to be present. Be where you are. — Kobe Bryant

I wouldn't say I'm a ball hog. I'm a shooter. — Kobe Bryant

Once you know what it is in life that you want to do, then the world basically becomes your library. Everything you view, you can view from that perspective, which makes everything a learning asset for you. — Kobe Bryant

I wanna be the best, simple and plain — Kobe Bryant

I'm a scorer, not a triple-double player — Kobe Bryant

My role is to make sure we're moving in the right direction, getting points, rebounds, steals, assists and providing leadership. — Kobe Bryant

It's hard for me to grasp the concept of somebody being nervous when I'm talking to them. — Kobe Bryant

I felt like when we came back from the All-Star break we needed everybody to feel like they were part of the team, ... I'm just trying to do whatever the team needs at any given time. — Kobe Bryant

I don't think a coach becomes the right coach until he wins a championship. — Kobe Bryant

There's a much bigger world out there. — Kobe Bryant

It's disgusting, but my father taught me when your mouth gets dry, just suck the sweat out of your own jersey. There's no bravado to any of it; it's just a disgusting little trick. — Kobe Bryant

I love going one-on-one with someone. That's what I do. I've never lost. It's a whole different game, just to have them right in front of you and be able to do whatever you want. — Kobe Bryant

I'm just so excited. We all are. We've been waiting for this [the gold medal] for years now and it's finally here. This meant so much. It just felt so good. — Kobe Bryant

You have to rely on others to have success as a group. — Kobe Bryant

I draw from the crowd a lot. — Kobe Bryant

I've got four dogs, and I just don't do dog doo. I'm a diva when it comes to that. — Kobe Bryant

I write all day and outline stories, a sports mythological universe. — Kobe Bryant

For us to be the team that got him that historic 10th championship is special for us. — Kobe Bryant

Sometimes I do wonder what college would have been like. But I made my decision. — Kobe Bryant

The thing that's most enjoyable to me is not actually beating someone [in the game]. It's the process of coming up with the blueprint of beating that I enjoy. That's a huge flip, so for me I enjoy building. I enjoy coming up. — Kobe Bryant

This is an award I couldn't have won on my own. I can't thank these guys enough. These are my guys, these are my brothers. — Kobe Bryant

People look at my competitive spirit, and they automatically attach it to the thing that's most similar, most easily recognizable, which is Michael [Jordan's] competitive spirit. I'm different. I enjoy building. I enjoy the process of putting the puzzle together, and then the byproduct of that, the consequence of that, is beating somebody. That becomes the cherry on top, the icing on the cake. — Kobe Bryant

The Black Mamba collection of watches is me: It is my alter ego, so to speak. As I mentioned before, it is sharp, cutting edge and sleek which are characteristics I try to apply when I'm out there on the basketball court. — Kobe Bryant

You want me to own a team and deal with these rich, spoiled stubborn athletes, and try to get them to perform? No thank you. — Kobe Bryant

I've known for a long time that they're a bunch of idiots. — Kobe Bryant

There’s a reason why players that have multiple championships have multiple championships. There’s a certain characteristic and an understanding and knowledge and that’s not something that’s easily taught. You kind of have to go through it and it kind of has to be part of your DNA from the beginning. — Kobe Bryant

Thank god, I'm not from this world. — Kobe Bryant

If you make it, great. If you miss it - what's there to be afraid of? — Kobe Bryant

Isn't the basis of a democracy to send somebody to Washington to bring something back for you? ... It isn't? — Kobe Bryant

If you want to make history, you have to do historic things — Kobe Bryant

Life Lessons by Kobe Bryant

1. Kobe Bryant taught us to never give up and to always strive for greatness, no matter the obstacles. He showed us that hard work and dedication can lead to success, as he was able to achieve greatness in his career despite facing numerous challenges. Lastly, he demonstrated that it is important to stay humble and to always give back to the community.