科比纪录片《Muse》 Kobe Bryant’s Muse

My scariest dreams for me were a dream where I was on a basketball court. The stadium is full. I'm attacking the basket and I can't get off the floor. I can't jump like I'm stuck like I'm cemented to the ground. floor, I was aware of the fact that I was dreaming, so now I'm trying to control my dream, you can jump through it, you can push it, you can reach that basket and no matter how hard I try, my legs are too heavy. Skipping ahead to a year that has given us more than its share of disappointment has also given us numerous thrills and Lakers fans are looking for more here tonight with three games remaining and fate in the hands of the Lakers to return to the playoffs where they normally they are doing well.

My warm-ups are always kind of a mental review of my body, like what's tight, what's pulling me, what's not pulling me, how do I loosen it up, how to make things work and my body was feeling a little stiff, it has four. seconds on shot clock, spin, spin far away, short, taken by jared jack. I remember things coming loose and then finally in the game I worked myself into a lather. um, my body felt good. I had never worked so hard in my entire career. In terms of preparation and physical preparation of my body night and night, I have been playing my best basketball.

Ryan attacks the baseline and he runs into a festive stone wall and holds his left knee fighting to make the playoffs. playing all these minutes since it has him hanging around in trouble oh he's limping he's hurt

kobe

is hurt i mean these minutes could be absolutely zero oh there's no doubt that what I always try to do during injuries is don't think about them because when the game itself is more important than the injury you don't feel the injury the injury won't get in the way because it's not important to you big brian outside 107 105. five minutes left

kobe

guarded by the rookie harrison barnes kobe one on one isolated for the moment Mumbai is struggling again he'll be down there for a while as soon as I made the move I knew it I mean that's the Achilles tendon I mean I shouldn't say that's it the motor of the foot, it feels like shock.

The absorbers on the back of your foot are simply gone, there's just nothing there, so when you walk it's like your calf muscle is touching the floor. I could feel it rolling down the back of my calf like it was just sliding up. more and more I remember feeling the silence I remember feeling the fear 35 years 17 18 years in the league like this it could be a rap and that's what the silence was about it was like this could really be an end for you he could barely make it to the line brian free throws tonight with 32 points five rebounds four assists and he is suffering but the lakers are down by two and they want and need him at the free throw line kobe

bryant

can't continue, I guess he would go directly to the family in the locker room come in, it's Vanessa and our daughters and um, you know I'm already, you know, I've been crying and I had tears in my eyes, I don't think I was crying, but I was angrier than this could be I know the end of the locker room on the court with my Teammates.

I've always tried to be very strong and be invincible, not be Clark Kent but Superman and then your family comes in and now that's home, that's where you can be you and um. and I just let it go, I mean, I did, I couldn't, I couldn't take it anymore, you know, no, you know, looking at my daughter's faces, I mean, they were really scared because they could never feel anything. They could feel the tension but they didn't know exactly why and you, as a parent, know that the first thing that comes to mind is when you see your children afraid, you want them not to be afraid, right?

You want to give them the strength that you want. . to give them courage you want to reassure them and the only way I can reassure them is to tell them hey dad, it's okay, you know everything is going to be okay, you know it's a small step back, but we'll be okay, right? This is what we talked about. of all the time you know you have an obstacle in your way you fall you get up and you go after it again right that's what we do so even at that moment I didn't believe in myself I felt like doing it It was important to tell them that because I felt that they needed hearing that as a parent you can't just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk and you have to be brave and in these types of situations, if not for yourself, then for Your children, Kobe, are you convinced that they told us that they probably Have you ruptured your Achilles tendon?

They are going to do an MRI. Are you pretty convinced that's what it is? Yeah, but if anyone's going to get over this, you probably were. Oh man, you've had tons of personal and professional challenges in your career are this at the top of the list, yeah, you know, but you know, it's, uh, it's feeding me, it's feeding me. I can already feel it. I can already feel it. It's just that you already know the players at this stage of their career. race, you know they burst the Achilles tendon and you know the pun wasn't saying they never come back the same, so I can hear it now.

It's pissing me off right now, I'm just thinking about it, so this is pretty cool in the last game. no, I'm not trying to be rude, I'm really sorry, I'm just trying, it's appropriate that you asked that question from down there, this injury was Mount Everest for me personally because I knew what a long road it was going to be. you know, at that point you have to make a decision you have to make a decision oh, it looks like it goes up there down under the cover suture removal is fabulous no swelling eh, nice tension yeah, great tension kobe, the tension is just perfect it's oh yes beautiful yes beautiful can you feel me? can you feel me touching you here? yes, that's the serial number, even his healing is yes and he has good healing, he doesn't have any burning there, that's great, he has this medial nerve, this is visible.

Absolutely beautiful, yes, beautiful, Russ, if you can hold it, that's fine, and then just open the hood, point your whole foot towards the roof and that's it, relax and up, good grip, push it up, keep it there, keep it , Keep it. hold him now go move your finger let him hold and let him relax wow shut up these naysayers once and for all ryan puts him on the floor he gets inside spencer look up here he hits him look at his body how high, he's here, That's amazing, I used to be too short to play, you know?

So, you have his kids walking on his back, which I thought was really funny trying to stand on your dad's back and you're like you're breaking him. When you walk on it, I always thought it was cool. He used to walk on his hamstring and stuff. He was a 6 10 ball-handling guard who could shoot the long ball and had every skill he had. all the skills that fans love, you know he could do pretty much anything, so he played in the NBA for eight years and decided that if we wanted to advance his career and play the way he wanted to, we should make the transition to play in abroad and play in Italy. so he took us with them you move to a place where you don't speak the language at all you have friends there and now after two years you move to another city now you have to start over and then two years later it repeats itself two years later that is repeat now you really don't know anyone and you have to figure things out again.

I would be more than happy to tag along with you to be in that atmosphere and be in the game and be a ball boy and just like being in the mix I would sit under the basket the whole game and I had one of those big things like a sweeper like a court sweeper. something happened of course, someone slipped a little sweat, I was very anal to make sure I got every little detail. The last fall was a rush to be so close. I used to try to sleep with my clothes on. You know, if you needed to go to practice, it meant I was going to delay them or something.

I mean, they would do like two practices. one day and that kind of thing and I would like to go I beg him to go but he won't let me go so I disappeared and I went to play basketball what was always the most constant thing was the game and that was my refuge that was the place where I could go and have complete familiarity no matter where I was, whether it was Calabria or Pistol, it didn't matter if I got along with kids who didn't get along with kids, it didn't matter because I always had my ball, so I can always pick up my basketball.

I can always get on my bike. I can always go to the park and I can always shoot well and that gave me a great source of comfort. Johnson Magic in the front field. Good transition. Rebound. The green one in the middle slams shut, they're going to steal it, I think he has it with the doctor, yes, here he comes, Dennis looks for danger, he gives it in the key, on the bird, birds, triple and away, well, my mother's father, Grandpa Cox, he used to do it, he recorded it. all the games and he used to lock him up and send us copies and I would sit there at home and watch these games over and over and over and over and over and over again trying to get him away but divided daily and he takes it to jordan I watched a game of the nba I saw other players around me everyone was there and I could see it as clear as day that it was a place I could go and not be alone I remember realizing that I had to learn how to go from coast to coast because that that's what john battle of the atlanta falcons did, john battle as you know, most people don't know john battle, but i know because watching him get a rebound, go coast to coast with his left hand despite He was right-handed, I need to do that battle, jumping lane from left to right, the jumper, perpetual movement, it's difficult to stay with the movements on the left, who has the right, it opens.

I wanted to do what those guys do on television, it was like a mythical thing. Six to nine months is the earliest and in all likelihood it's a year and the real question you've been asking yourself is will he ever be the same and many of our best basketball players Isaiah Thomas Shaq Barkley retired after of this injury. For me it has always been a matter of passion until I was probably 13 years old. So it was all about kind of love, it was fun, you know, when I played and you know, I had a good time once we got back to the States for good. when I was 13, I moved around in November during the school year at Kenwood Ballet High School and it was just different, I mean I didn't understand the slang, it's an Italian kid.

He understood fashion and couldn't spell, so the teacher told my mother he was probably dyslexic. It was like someone took me and threw me in a bucket in a tub of ice water because it surprised me. I know someone very awkward, skinny looking, barely speaking sitting at the lunch table alone with no friends and was upset because I had moved and had all this resentment and anger inside me that I hadn't really let out, it was never seen as I'm going to control this. It was more like you know what I'm just going to delay the eruption.

I'm just going to push it to the side and then use it to my advantage for what I love to do. what it is to play and once I discovered that everything in the game changed because now I understood that I could really lose myself through the game and no matter what affected me, no matter what happened in life, I could always step on the basketball court and letting my game talk about that step on that court and just absolutely explode and that feeling of playing with that rage was new for me, but I loved it.

There is a choice we have to make as individuals if you want to be great at something. a choice you have to make, we can all be masters of our craft, but you have to make a decision. What I mean by that is the inherent sacrifices that come along with that family time, hanging out with your friends, being a great friend, being a great friend. son grandson nephew whatever the case there are sacrifices that come with making that decision with the final score 48-43 the celebration is on for the aces and look at the media chasing kobe

bryant

they want a chance at him because this james just may be this young man's last game before heading to the NBA in his heart of hearts Do you think you're good enough now to play in the NBA next year?

It's good to have confidence in yourself. I want to learn how to become the best. basketball player in the world and if I'm going to learn that I have to learn from the best kids go to school to be doctors or lawyers and so on and that's where they study that's the place for them to study my place studying is the best kobe bryant i have decided to skip college and take my time for aba i knew they weren't going to stop me you know at the age of 18 this was my life so it's not possible for you to become better than me because you're not putting in the time the time that I do even if you want to spend the time money you can't because you have other things you have other responsibilities that are taking you away so I already won uh Again, I have a lot of respect for you.

I hope to see you here again soon. I know I will. We'll leave your rich boys growing up in Italy. I was a huge Lakers fan, a huge Lakers fan, like I knew everything about them. obsessedwith the magic um I used to work on my skyhook every day and then you know you're like kareem and uh and then I worked on the baby hooks so they were like magic and uh I worked on my runners um to be like james worthy of my runners left hook runners right hook and a jump shot in transition like byron scott and um scoring 40 50 60 points 80 points I would have those dreams and like that, 100 of the time when I imagined these things I had them in a Lakers uniform t-shirt golden this was like a dream come true eldon campbell back on the floor with torres and kobe bryant making his first appearance at madison square garden 18 years old and you're going to the free throw line now let's give you some perspective this is the third game of season a year ago at this time in his third game for Lower Marion High School, Kobe Bryant was leading the Lower Marion Aces to victory over Haverford High School.

There is his first point in the NBA and he arrives at the age of 18 years, two months and a couple of days in the entire season. He was just waiting for my chance to come. I wanted to show that I was better than they thought. You know, I wanted to prove to myself that I'm better than they think. I was mentally preparing myself and visualizing the moment. That would come where you know I am, uh, I lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a victory, don't do that, you know you're going to wear out your pants, there were times I sat on the bench for seven games in a row and then I played. the last 20 seconds of the game and then I look around and see other players in the league that are playing and performing and setting the league on fire iverson has jordan, the crowd is interested alan shakes free gets two it becomes true lo I knew I could play with these guys.

I had to see them closer. I knew I could compete with them, but I didn't have the opportunity to show it. There's Kobe on the bench wanting to get into one of the things I always used. What I had to do was get in my car and drive around the Ucla campus and see kids hanging out in frat houses and just walking around. I just wanted to feel that I just wanted to feel that. So I was even wondering if I made the wrong choice, man, I could be going to college, laughing and hanging out with these kids, having a good time and enjoying it, but no, here I am, it's game five for the Western Conference semi-final best out of seven, the Utah Jazz leads this. three games to one series, the lakers have no timeout 11.3 to play in regulation, you see the score before every series, we got a folder and it had all the plays, the players and the stats, and I mean, I really did I studied like I really studied. that and I didn't know that most of the players took the books and you know, I just left them in their rooms or whatever.

I really studied them like I knew the sets, I knew the percentages, I knew you know and I just went for it. be as prepared as possible because it was like I didn't want to ruin this it's been a game for the angels they obviously need to beat watson they're out of the playoffs and here we go kobe bryant will take over russell five seconds left four for brian to do this shot when he's on the line, let's give him some credit for that wide open feature, he has to come up and play like it's nothing, you just missed the shot, that's it, no matter what, when you miss 10 times that 11th time is going to be great it's not the eleventh time 12 times will be great but eventually a chance will happen we flew back to Los Angeles that night and I got home it was probably like three in the morning and I went down to the high school which is near my house and the janitor He let me in the gym and I shot all day, all day, I mean, all day, and this was right after that playoff game and I didn't leave the gym, I just kept shooting and shooting and shooting and shooting and shooting and shooting in practice and I'm practicing and I had a chance to let off the steam from disappointing my teammates and millions of fans.

I had the opportunity to let all of that out instead of repressing it. and I imagine that moment over and over and over and over again that it was a great summer for me because I felt like everyone had written me off after those air balls and I got so excited when the schedule came out and I saw that we had Utah tonight in the first game of the season the los angeles lakers host the utah jazz faking head and shoulders the hips were flying the feet were moving the arms were moving and he put the ball in fluttering kobe with the ball he just made a great move a second ago he's against the base layup, yeah, I came out really big in the clutch, really big in the clutch and I remember feeling like I was really vindicated, like to me it was a big deal for the veterans, they probably didn't care at all.

Just another regular season game, but for me it was very important. You've come this far in one year because you work so hard in the summer. I definitely did. I was a student of the game. I tried to understand things that I didn't. I did really well last season and trying to add them to my game is difficult because you have to break habits, so that was the hardest adjustment, but this year you're getting more minutes and obviously a guy can play better when he's not there. looking over your shoulder. To see if the coach can eliminate it when you play more minutes, you naturally improve because that is the experience that is on the court.

You will receive all kinds of endorsements that you are already receiving. You have to get someone to sell. toothpaste, you have beautiful teeth, thank you very much, I appreciate it, I may only be 18 years and five months old, but this guy can do everything the veterans can do and do it better, maybe here we go, the most important thing is that you should put everyone. notice that you're here and you're real I'm not a player that comes and goes I'm just not a player that's going to make an all-star team once twice I'm here to be an all-time great once I made that commitment and I said I want to be one of the best of all time, then the game became everything you realize how good it is, it has certainly learned a lot and it will certainly learn a lot more.

It's going to be much better if it continues to improve. Fans voted him to start in next Sunday's All-Star Game, making him the youngest player in NBA All-Star Game history. He has the ball in his hands again to get back to Comey. Have you ever seen a young man like Kobe Bryant so confident at his age and so mature about him? No, no, I never think he showed you things. It had a lot of what he's talking about. 19 years. Many guys of 25 and 30. 35 can't. Even if he faked a ramp pass behind his back and set the crowd on fire, it's like that scene in the movie where everything magically happens the right way, everything was clicking, you know, playing the best basketball of my career, the physical appearance. mental aspect um starting my family everything is rolling both teams fighting for their collective lives Kobe's outside hitters nba I can remember winning the championship and uh something like well now what happens now what happens now holy the champagne burns like a monitor Okay, let's celebrate this, you know, bring the champagne balls, but don't drop them.

You know, seriously, there's a chance if you drop them and then outside of that, it was like, "Okay, now what back-to-back titles for the Los Angeles Lakers?" kobe ​​bryant is only 22 years old there is nothing he can't do he already has a total package shaquille o'neal his unprecedented store what he has done here is a guy who dominated perhaps more than any player in nba history and the beautiful thing is they're just getting started, we're going to have another one next year again, back to back, you make a decision and you say, become hot water, I'm going to be this, so you shouldn't be surprised when you are.

It shouldn't be something that feels heady or out of place because you haven't seen this moment for so long that it's been present in your mind for so long that when that moment comes it's like, of course, it's here because it's been here all along. time. time because it's been here the whole time that's what it feels like at least 750 good luck donna 2100 uh the actual retail price is 29.99 oh everyone loves delicious baked potatoes but cooking them in the oven takes 45 minutes and when they you put it in the microwave they come out crispy and dry introducing papa express the quickest and easiest way to cook the perfect baked potato in just four minutes oh no no when I wake up in the morning although it's tight just split the tendon attachment on the calcaneus down there yes yes, I don't even know how to spell calcaneus, but I know what it is, you will be able to communicate what the hell is wrong with you, welcome to my first video, those who don't know, yes, I had a budding music career. uh, as a rapper it didn't last long, but I made a video and uh, on the video set is where I met Vanessa for the first time.

I see the lovely ladies I haven't even met yet. How are you, Colby? Nice to meet you, Trinidad. I wasn't much of a basketball player at the time either, so it was nice to meet you. It was a two-day video shoot and I was always looking for her like I wanted to know where she was. I'd finish the take and then I'd go to my trailer, but I'd wonder where she was the whole time and then I'd come out of the trailer and I just wanted to talk to her a little bit more between takes and stuff like that and she wrote down a phone number right away. that you still had to write down phone numbers and I called him the next day and we talked for hours she was just beautiful we literally did everything together everything together and I thought he was a big idiot because I loved, I love Disneyland.

I love Disney movies and stuff like that but I never had the chance to go to the park much and she was also a big Disney fan and we used to hang out at Disneyland, we used to go to Magic Mountain, she became my best friend. I know and, for me, it was very different to have someone that I was so close with because I was so used to growing up in isolation and moving from place to place and making new friends all the time, so I never really opened up to anyone because I knew that I would inevitably move, but now you know that being in Los Angeles and feeling like I'm going to be a Laker for the rest of my life and I just met this beautiful woman who I just see the world the same way, we decided to get married, I I proposed she said yes, we are both very young, so I would wake up, go to training and come back and she would still be in bed sleeping like 18 year olds do, man she would be asleep at like twelve in the morning late, man, and then I slept with her and went to sleep again too and then, you know, we'd wake up. up and you know, we do what kids do, we do what kids do, we take it to the batting cage, we go hit some balls like we're playing miniature golf, you know, we go to the movies, we go out to eat, It was just beautiful.

One time, man, we had an Italian, it was such a beautiful time, you know, because we were starting our own family and I really enjoyed it and just being with our baby, you know it's great, and you organizing the nursery and you know the crib. and all those weird baby einstein, baby mozart videos, where you just hypnotize your child like we've been through all that, all that, and when you're young you really have a tendency to think about your own personal journey and For us It was about taking two young people and trying to figure out our journey together and trying to grow together, which is a challenge, but when you have a child, it becomes even bigger because now you have responsibility for this little life that you have.

Mold going through this time made me ask a lot of questions and really try to figure out what's important in life and what's, you know, everything that I've been holding onto, that's important, you know the championships and the sponsorships, and maybe that It is not the most important thing because I lost sight of what is most important and that is the family. It is a man's job to protect your family. It is a man's job to take care of your family. It is a man's job to always be the anchor of stability. for the family and in that aspect I failed miserably I woke up in the morning and I didn't know if today is the day that I like to lose my family, this is the day that it's an end, you know, like you know that She's had enough. one of the things she said she said you know during that time I know I hated you but it wasn't about you it was about Natalia it was about the fact that I didn't want to I wanted to do everything I could to try to resolve this because I didn't want her grew up in a broken home and, um, things would have been very easy for her to leave, especially during that time.

It will be much easier to leave him, you leave, you take half the money and you have your daughter, life is good, but she didn't do what we expected and, um, I was expecting our second child during that time and um, there were so many things. stress she actually um she you know she uh um actually had a miscarriage and um you know and uh you know it's something uh I have a hard time dealing with it you know because I felt like it was just my fault you know, I mean, like we should. be building our family, you know, because of my mistake, because because it's a difficult year, um, we're not, um, you know, we lost a,We lost a baby, you know, and um, it's, uh, um, we try to justify the fact that you know it's, uh, you don't.

I don't realize how common miscarriages are and you know these things happen and you know it's part of the process, but the reality is that it happened because of me, yeah, that's the reality, you know, and that's something that I have. That's something I have to deal with, something I have to carry forever at two and three in the morning, I drove, I left the house, I went to the park and I sat in the middle of the field, I sat there. He was sitting on the basketball. Was looking. I was looking at the stars. I was looking at the basket and I just looked around and then I saw myself, I saw my eight-year-old self sitting in front of me on a ball and then I thought what he would say to me knowing now all the pain he would be in.

What my family would go through I don't know if he would continue playing even despite his great competitive nature his will to win his work ethic he can't be expected to be the same dominant force at 36 and 37 that he was at 26 and 27 , as Mark Jackson always told me, father time is undefeated and it's the truth oh oh uh um in 2003 I went from being a person who was at the top of his game, had everything coming to a year later without having a clue towards where life is going or if you're going to even be able to be a part of life, as we all know, I listen to everything the crowd says and I listen to it, so it's like now there's this place where it was my refuge.

I was bombarded with all kinds of things they were saying and I had to break away because going through it at that time I felt like so many things were coming at once that it was getting very, very confusing. I had to organize things, so I created the black one. Mom's blog, as he is known as the killer black snake, has the murderous look in his eyes right now, so kobe has to deal with these problems, all the personal challenges, the black mamba enters the court and does the What he does, he was just all that I am. destroying everyone remember there's one second left in the regular season until cody needed to let out he was an avalanche man and you know there was nothing that was going to get in the way there was nothing that was going to stop this is the battle that's happening inside of me that I take with me to these competitions, so it's not about you, it's not about anyone else, you're not making me go, I'm, I'm, I'm driving this thing, man, and you happen to be a person who is in a way that can be demolished in the process yes, ladies and gentlemen, you have witnessed the second greatest performance in NBA history.

Some people sit there and say, "They keep talking about Kobe being the best player in the game today." Don't they realize that Kobe is trying to be possibly the greatest of all time? His response is that I have to get a couple more rings. They will do it? Yes, they know what I am. I won't rest until we do it. I wanted to prove it to myself. that I could win under a different role, so to speak, looking at how these amazing teams have been put together and there's always a dynamic duo and when that duo went their separate ways, one could never win without the other and I just felt like that was it.

Really important for me and you know this, as well as the challenge for others, is to show that I can, I can lead this team in my own way, I can put my DNA into a team and lead them to a championship. The buzz is back on the Boston Celtics. Fans have waited 21 years for this opportunity to play for their 17th championship, but look who's standing in the way. NBA MVP Kobe Bryant and the Lakers' biggest steal in sports history are ready for their next chapter. Cody's led the league in Scoring, he is in All Star Mvps, won champions, but this year is different, magic, what is the best advice you gave him before the season?

Well, I took him aside and said, "Hey, if you want to be considered like Michael Jordan, now you have to make your teammates better." you have to become a better leader and then you have to trust your teammates. He's had the boys over for dinner three or four times this year. He never did that because they'd never done it before, but look at them now, that's why they're in the championship that we are, naturally we ran into a team that was much tougher, much nastier, much nastier and they shouted at us pretty well. I overcompensated the way I led my teammates.

I was thinking maybe I was too hard on them and then. Throughout the year I didn't challenge them enough, it was just about not being so social, putting my arm around you even when you're up, oh you're doing great, you're doing great, it's just not me, kobe, you won the MVP. You led the team to the final, how do you characterize this season? Well, I mean, the goal was to win a championship, it wasn't to win the MVP or anything like that. I was winning the championship, so you know from that aspect that we failed. I'm going down I'm going to follow my path and I will lead my way and this team will have my personality when I have my courage they will have my fight they will have my will my competitive spirit and um so when we take a step on that basketball court don't you face me and just to my competitive fire, but you face 12 of those um and the challenge became how can I do that for me, is it that ferocity or that anger and can I carry that with me now, how do I instill this in the rest of my boys to the rest of my teenagers using the darkest emotions, anger, resentment, frustration and sadness, and using it as a weapon, using it as a form of offense, is it a scar, is it pain?

It's a bad memory, some people are probably afraid to tap into that side of them, but it's something so powerful that once they possess it, the sky's the limit because they're going to drive themselves and take it out of who they are and everything. of their life experiences and the things that have motivated them actually take your hands off me don't touch me the rest of the practice okay, okay, I'll start driving, clicking to the right, pushing, the smoke has cleared and two remain standing. The Lakers and the magic ushered in the 2009 NBA Finals in Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant is more focused than ever on his entire career. You talk about a guy with a mentality. That's the victory they had. He embraced the villainous nature in all of us. platform to unleash another back of steel derrick fisher with another congratulations kobe bryant your fourth nba championship how is it different to you as a man and player than you were seven years ago, the last time you won a championship? I think you just get better, you just grow as a person, you grow as a man and, you know, just try to figure out the best way to lead these guys.

The most historic rivalry in the NBA renewed the Lakers and Celtics hungry for title number five personally with number 16 for their franchise. The Lakers have type. of flag football played, you better get ready for tackle football tonight because the Boston Celtics are going to beat you up, how are the Lakers going to react to the prospect of losing to these guys in the finals again and knowing what that means? it means as a lakers fan and after having seen jerry west lose to the celtics over and over again and the duel between magic and bird and now I am part of this incredible rivalry and what is going to affect this team is that we lost against the celtics twice and don't believe it the lakers come back 2010 after we did we have a bond now that unites us forever forever we have a bond that will never be broken because the lion looked us in the face and we look back the challenge was not just winning one but it was winning several and being able to sit at the same lunch table with my

muse

s michael magic I want to be able to sit at the same table with them and belong there and I'm very proud To be able to say that I can do that, I think With Kobe there is a lot of pride just as there is pride in many players, but his level drops and he is just another guy, I don't think he wants to. any part of it, so, it's constant stretching, it's constant ice baths, it's constant modalities and massages and, um, eating the right things, drinking the right things, it's a lifestyle, you know, it's a full-time commitment. um, and you know it's me.

I'm not a spring chick, you know, but it's okay, I can, I can figure it out. This will, for all intents and purposes, be the first time we've seen Kobe Bryant since Terry Nicholas. Hopefully this will be the foundation for Kobe moving forward recovering from that injury and, as he will tell you, he is very excited to be there. I can feel the energy in the building, the sounds of cameras flashing, the smell of popcorn, like the sounds of people walking around getting ready for the game. intensity in the air there is your energy that you can harness it's like a frequency you can harness what time it is once you feel it then everything becomes you who you become I love what I do and it's as simple as that I understand it I enjoyed it A lot, the game has made me a better man, a better husband, a better father.

You meet a best friend. You meet a better teacher. It has helped me discover who I am. He has had more confidence. You know he has been my best friend. Psychiatrist. Everything is the seed. that started it all, it all grew from this ball in his 19th year in the NBA, that man over there, Kobe Bryant, has 32,291 points, one behind Michael Jordan all-time on Michael Jordan's scoring list and He is now number three on the NBA scoring list. time score list as I sit here now I take off my shoe and I look at my scar I see beauty in that because I see all the hard work all the sacrifices I see that journey it took to get back to this point of being healthy and I see the beauty in that fight, that's what makes it beautiful as he advances from the baseline.

Wow, yeah, that right arm would be there on his shooting shoulder, but it's just a sore right shoulder, is what the Lakers call it. Kobe has returned to the locker room, that will be the main topic of conversation for the next day, obviously, Brian's health, let's see what kind of strength you have here, that's where the damage is on your bracelet, let me see how you lift it up the end. side don't let me turn it down resist any pain and keep your elbow pointing towards me now I want to feel how much pressure you can but push in okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, this dark area here is the rotator cuff.

The wire is not attached to the bone here, so there is only one direction this tear will go. It's going to get worse. This is not going to get better. This tear is quite large. You're already your normal daily function, you know, other than basketball. you know, lifting your arm doing activities of daily living, certainly lifting, lifting your children, you know, playing that kind of thing with your arm in this position is going to become more difficult, I think this will have to be fixed because it will cause a problem for you um and we like to try to fix these things when you're younger and the tear is smaller um and the best thing for your shoulders is for you to fix it or something no, I know, I know and it seems like you know from the way when your injuries occurred.

In the second part of your season, your offseason has been dominated by rehab, and instead of the offseason, at what point do you feel like you're holding on to something that's not there? Just at what point your determination in your drive you know it becomes unreasonable or something that just isn't possible when you know when that moment happens you know you know now is the time to let go this is this is the time to walk away do you ever know do you really know? I don't think I don't know if you know. I don't know if there's ever a time.

What is the right time? Only if that time ever comes, who determines? when it's up to you when we say this can't be achieved this can't be done then we're letting ourselves down my brain can't can't process failure won't process failure um because if I have to do it if I sit there and I have than to face myself and say myself you know you're a failure i think that's worse than death so your love is bright as always even in the shadows it's baby you