爱华网英雄暮年——从科比中国行说起，再看这个偏执的家伙双语 科比中国行单挑视频
对于一个极具竞争性和求胜欲的运动员而言，转型期往往不那么容易。如今，36岁的科比伤愈复出，并积极地准备着新赛季，究竟是什么在驱使着他，让他在职业生涯的第19个年头甚至未来很久很久都能保持旺盛的斗志？
作者：克里斯-布拉德
科比中国行——第一天
这个高大强壮的男人走的很快，他张开双臂，用身体挡住一侧的人群，确保清出了入口的通道。这已经是他作为科比-布莱恩特的海外安保团队一员的第七年，他很清楚这条“安全走道”撑不了多久，尤其是在中国。有一次，那是在四年前的山东，一个年轻人整晚都守在体育馆的顶棚上，寒夜中他蜷缩着打瞌睡，但是，当科比出现的时候，他立马从一个小高棚上跳了下来，嘶喊着“科比！科比！（Kohhhh-beeee!）”霎时间，人潮涌动，阿提拉-波尔蒂克已招架不住——波尔蒂克是前文所述那位“高大强壮威猛男”的名字，一个匈牙利人——他仍在努力隔开人群，却未曾料到自己竟被人群掀翻，仿佛匈奴王（阿提拉）的政权被推翻，人民将他从船上抛入大海一样；还有一次，狂热的球迷挤垮了护栏，蜂拥涌进，他们突破了安全距离，一个球迷甚至将科比的耳环扯了下来；一年前，疯狂的粉丝为了一睹科比，竟如同刮鳞刀般地剃过上海的警车，警察完全不能阻挡球迷的热情。他们太想看科比一眼了。现在，阿提拉和他的同事们，一个名叫罗伯特-拉拉的警官，坚持安放路障以及监视用无人警车。阿提拉说道“你不知道什么是真正的'歇斯底里’，除非去中国看一次科比。”
在这个六月末的下午，球迷们已经等了好几个小时，他们聚集在潮湿的江湾体育馆外，这是上海的东北面，这里高楼林立，满是烟尘，一片喧嚣。他们穿着各式各样的科比球衣和印着“戒指收集者”的T恤。高举着海报，纸板和巨型横幅。其中一个写着“为科比祈福”，上面印着一张科比受伤当时抱着脚踝的图；另一个则写着“青春永驻”，幅标语“伟大的父亲，卓越的球员”。球馆出口外，是密密麻麻的紫金色24号们——高的，矮的，胖的，瘦的，男的，女的，戴眼镜的，不戴眼镜的，全都穿着科比的球衣。还有许多人带着印有科比字样的帽子，有的还在身上贴着一次性的黑曼巴纹身。
很显然，几乎没有人穿着湖人队的装备，他们并不太在乎这支球队，他们在乎的只是一个人——科比-布莱恩特。科比就像是“骇客帝国”中里奥和贾斯丁-比伯的合体。
下午5点45分，防暴警察赶赴现场，他们穿着头盔和防爆服，一手端着防爆盾牌，一手举着U型枪（可钳住暴乱者的脖子以压制*河蟹*）。下午6点半，街道上已经成了一片紫金色的海洋，有的球迷爬上了路灯的柱子，有的爬上了街边的大树，有今晚入场券的人都是幸运儿，但其他的人并不会离开，他们会等上超过5个小时，只为了看一眼科比入场的那一瞬间。
这个夏天的上海站是科比15年来第9次造访中国，而球迷对他的热情只增不减。举办方也早有准备，他们很清楚也很明白那些穿着科比装备的球迷们的心情——看一眼他们的偶像。
终于，太阳落山了，一辆漆黑涂装，就连窗户都是黑色的商务车缓缓驶进了铁门。一时间，欢呼声，叫喊声腾地响彻起来，球迷们整齐的呐喊着“科比！科比！科比！”随着人群的躁动，防暴警察的神经也高度紧绷起来，他们守着防线，以免狂热的球迷冲过护栏。这时，科比从车里走了出来，他穿着一件白色的T恤和一条短裤，这已经是他15年来第9次来到中国，但每一次，他还是会被那与日俱增的“科比狂热”所震撼到。于是科比简单的挥了挥手，便快步跨上楼梯，走进了场内。穿过了一排紫色射光灯照出的入场路径，以及门口的两座真人大小的“科比灌篮”陶瓷雕像，他来到了场地中央。这原本是一座体育馆，但耐克公司花了一周时间将这里打造成了一座圣地，毫无夸张的说，一座“黑曼巴巢穴”。
整座球馆的上空排满了紫色的射灯，走道的墙面上是巨幅的科比名言，“打出名堂”，“篮球不问出处”这两句话振奋人心，四周到处都是负责人，而科比一刻也不停歇，直接走进了VVIP房间。很快，他就出来了，他戴上了一副微型麦克风，双手的三头肌上绑着微型接收器。
接下来的三个小时里，这里就是一场难以置信的篮球秀，这是一场美国偶像，饥饿游戏，狂热梦想秀的混合表演。耐克打造的篮球场，不可思议的全LED地板，当主持人高声喊道科比时，球馆沸腾了，所有人的热情都爆发了出来，你甚至可以听到女球迷的哭声。
终于，活动结束了，而科比却意犹未尽，他做了一个让主办方头疼不已的决定——违反流程安排，与中国年轻球员们来一场单挑比赛，要知道，他的跟腱才刚刚恢复。单挑比赛的视频不久便被上传到因特网。之后，一个穿着24号的年轻人从人群中跳入了场内，他拜倒在科比的面前，双手合十，朝拜心中的篮球之神。
而这，仅仅是科比中国行的第一天。
科比纪录片——偏执与改变
回到美国之后，一切又恢复原样，一切也都按照计划进行着。两个月后，科比将穿过斯台普斯中心的球员通道，迎接他的将是洛杉矶球迷的欢呼声，这是他新赛季的第一场比赛，也是他去年12月跟腱再次受伤以来的第一场比赛，这意味着他即将步入他职业生涯的第19个年头，这19个赛季里，他五次登顶总冠军，一次获得常规赛最有价值球员称号，19年的职业生涯，科比的上场时间在历史上仅次于12人。但在这个赛季，除非发生奇迹式交易，否则科比新赛季的最佳队友将是卡洛斯-布泽尔，林书豪以及朱利叶斯-兰德尔。当然，科比依旧充满了信心，他认为这个阵容可以“打出名堂”。“我知道人们在说'这不是一支能争冠的球队，’”一个星期前，科比在他比利佛山庄希尔顿大酒店的房间看着窗外说道“没错，那只是他们的看法。”——随后科比沉默良久，眯上了眼，说道“但布泽尔可以做这方面，乔丹-希尔可以做另一方面，林书豪也能有所贡献，如何最好的利用每一个人的优势并获得胜利？这是我们要解决的谜题，如果我们能解开这个谜题，我们就能让世人大吃一惊。”
彼时，科比正在希尔顿大酒店出席即将上映的科比个人纪录片现场，他是这部记录片的制片人。他坐在大屏幕下，身边的是监制史蒂芬-埃斯皮诺萨和导演哥谭-乔普拉。很快，便有记者提出了关于湖人队未来的问题，紧接着他们又开始问有关勒布朗的问题。埃斯皮诺萨打断了记者的提问，厉声说道“你们不要浪费我们的时间。”但科比摇了摇手，示意史蒂芬让他来回答。科比清楚人们关心这部电影的原因是他们在乎他自己的职业生涯。正如科比的回答——“这是（该死的）纪录片的一部分”。
新时代的表演时刻：科比（图中左1，乔普拉，左2，埃斯皮诺萨）是即将上映的“科比的沉思”纪录片的焦点。电影的导演，与他电影的主角一样，有着一位著名的父亲。
现在，在一处可以鸟瞰好莱坞山脉的八层楼大厦上，科比继续讲述着他的故事，他对未来的看法依然很乐观。他的自信一如我们所熟悉的那样令人钦佩。尽管账面上湖人队的阵容看起来很糟糕，更像是一支过于依赖这位高龄球星的乐透球队，而且看不到什么什么希望。七个月前，他刚刚从跟腱撕裂中恢复回到球场，科比就签下了一份两年4850万美元的续约合同，而三周后，他却再次因膝伤报销。这份合同，被外界戏称为“最烂合同”，他们嘲弄着，哪怕湖人队想换科比也没人会接下这份合同的。若是要问科比的市场价值？一位总经理刻意说道“零，看看这份合同的数额，谁会要他？”
当然，这位总经理是故意这么说的，他也知道，能在一支职业球队从一而终的球员凤毛麟角，而这，就是科比的价值。科比的计划是在两年内退役，但他也说过“我依然保留改变主意的权利”。这位史上最伟大的球员之一，也是史上唯二的最嗜血的竞争者——另一位当然是迈克尔-乔丹——本该因为西区残酷的竞争和人员配置的不足而选择离开。但，他是科比-布莱恩特。他不是那种会宣布告别巡回演出的家伙，事实上，科比十分讨厌这种四处举办告别会的想法，他不愿意接受分别的礼物以及再见的泪水。“不不不，我很好，”他摇着手，说道“如果你嘘我嘘了18，19年，那就嘘上20年吧。这才是比赛，朋友。”
科比讨厌告别的礼物和再见的泪水：“如果你嘘我嘘了18，19年，那就嘘上20年吧。这才是比赛，朋友。”
但大多数人并不会嘘他，和许多发生在其他运动中的大反派的生涯末期一样，人们已经张开怀抱，全然的接受了科比。这也让他逐渐成为了一个心直口快的“大实话”，一个最接近查尔斯-巴克利的家伙，心里想的什么，嘴上就说什么。通常人们会在70到75岁之间进入一个“去他妈的”阶段，而在回到美国的几天后才刚刚年满36岁的科比，却早已进入了这个阶段（我猜我已经打了70年球了，他这样开玩笑说道）。
18个月前，那会儿他的跟腱还没有受伤，他还在MVP排行榜上高居前列，他的身边是德怀特-霍华德和保罗-加索尔。如今呢？他的身边是尼克-杨和韦斯利-约翰逊，而人们关注的焦点已变成凯文-杜兰特，勒布朗-詹姆斯和凯文-乐福。
科比当然明白这些，尽管他还是倔强不肯承认。正如他所说，“这可能是我生涯的最后篇章了”，但他依旧会在生涯终章里来一段高潮，像以前那样火力十足，充满侵略性。现在，科比正专心致志的准备着他的回归，只是，他已经开始反省。他会考虑自己在比赛中的位置，也会重新规划整理自己的生活。他想要告诉世人科比的经历，想把自己的所学所感倾囊相授。这也是为什么他会来到中国。
上海站的人群，簇拥在护栏周边，呐喊着，拍摄着——科比的每一站都是如此。
科比中国行——第二天
早晨8点45，科比上海站的第二天，住在上海西面香格里拉大酒店的科比走进了四楼一个寥寥无人的球馆。他看到了一个记者，忍不住笑了起来，说道“哈，你还是成功了！”然后，科比开始进行他那传奇而标志性的训练内容。
科比的训练就此开始了，他坐上固定自行车，轻松悠闲地骑着，窗外，蒙蒙细雨伴着微煦的晨曦，朦胧中的延安高架公路上车来车往，他看的有些出神。15分钟后，他又开始做一些腿部的拉伸动作，接着是自重训练（非器械训练）。整个训练的过程中，科比一直唠嗑个不停，陪他唠嗑的是他的好朋友兼耐克财务经理尼克-哈里森，一个平易近人的前蒙大拿州大的前锋。科比最喜欢的几个话题是——“伙计，我昨晚睡前看了一个科技博客，天啊，科技改变生活!”“嘿，你看了Buzzfeed上的新闻了么？”以及“凯蒂-佩里真是个天才，太有商业头脑了，你说呢？”值得一提的是，科比也追星，他钦慕佩里很久了，最近，他在洛杉矶夏特莫特酒店里第一次看到佩里本人，他紧张了，甚至还紧张得流出了冷汗。
他想要告诉世人科比的经历，想把自己的所学所感倾囊相授。这也是为什么他会来到中国。
在上海的这一周，科比让许多离奇古怪的传言显露原型——科比也是人，他不会在凌晨两点起床，跑到大街上做冲刺训练；也不会看到凌晨4点的上海；他不会花上3个多小时进行动态视觉训练；更不会像日本武士那样念诵禅文。有时候他的训练就跟你我一样轻松简单。这就是一个年龄36岁，腿龄45岁老将的现实状态。
在他保持那副超人身躯的日子里，忍耐是他的核心力量。“他是我见过地最能忍受疼痛的人，”他的私人生理医师朱迪-塞托说道。但科比也知道他早已超越疼痛的极限，不能再逼迫自己了。他刚从两处最可怕的伤病中恢复过来，他的身体需要休息。近日，他面见了一位营养学家，希望他能给自己提供一份“魔法”饮食计划，帮助他早日恢复到最初的状态，毕竟机能的老化改变了他体内碳水化合物和蛋白质含量的比例。“有些我之前能做的事，但以我现在的身体却做不到。”科比无奈的承认道“你必须想办法解决这个问题，首先，你要弄清楚这个问题是什么。去年我复出的时候，我试着弄清楚有什么地方改变了，但那真的是一些很难察觉的改变。”科比停下了，又接着说道“所以当我听到专家和人们所说的'看吧，他不再是以前的科比了。’我告诉你，你说对了！我不是以前那个科比。但只因为发生了一点改变，这不意味着我不能比以前更好（我会比以前差多少）。”
尽管他在过去两个赛季的大部分时间里都处在恢复期，科比依然对自己能回到两年前的状态保持乐观。
科比现在最关心的问题就是效率。这整个夏天他几乎每天都在训练，湖人队的训练馆，或者橘子郡一处离他家比较近的体育馆里，你总能看到他的身影。有时，他会叫上一个人和他一起训练磨练技巧——这个人通常是现年27岁的湖人队小前锋韦斯利-约翰逊。在他们训练的过程中，科比扮演的是一名良师益友的角色，他会指出约翰逊多余的步伐动作，并告诉他怎样才能打得更加简单高效。其他的时候，科比会独自一个人训练，这时他的身边只有两个球童，他会连续不断的投上两个小时的球，直到汗流浃背，整个过程中，科比都是一言不发的。他的目的是找回自己的状态——今年初的时候，科比的身材略为发福，有点走样，但他现在脱掉上衣就显得比较瘦了。而他的最终目的，当然是全面提升自己的状态。“我的肌肉线条会变得清晰，”他说道“非常清晰，各方面都会变得更有效率。和几年前相比，你会觉得我的发挥被限制住了，但我会打的更加合理，也更有目的性。”
上海的一个早晨，他的酒店训练目的明确，一个小时的简单训练之后，科比就回到了房间，开始准备今天的行程安排。今天是设计日，科比来中国已经很多次，他对这些行程也已经轻车熟路。耐克的一个代表负责本次科比中国行的行程安排，他是按照主题来划分的。昨天是荣耀日，今天是设计日，而明天，安排在当地博物馆的活动，是艺术日。
刚过晌午，科比的黑色豪华商务车就抵达了充满艺术气息的M50创意园，在那里，他面会了一位叫张周捷（译注）的青年艺术家兼设计师，耐克不时地会赠予他相关产品。此刻的周捷，身材削瘦，神情紧张，他穿着一条白色的工装裤，戴着一副大大的框架眼镜，他设计了一个系统，它会模拟出“椅子”的DNA，因此他的“椅子”是不会有两个相同的。他的经历和科比很像——被一个工作室拒绝之后，他花了四年时间研究如何造出一把“椅子”译注1。如今，他设计的“椅子”价值10000美元，甚至还到洛杉矶开了一次展览，而他从洛杉矶带回给朋友们的东西就是——科比系列套装。现在，科比本人站在他的面前，他显得很紧张。随后，他把注意力放到自己的专业上面，向科比介绍了他的设计并播放了幻灯片。科比的好奇心完全被激发了，他用手托着下巴，很认真的聆听着，观看着，偶尔还会若有所思的点点头，提出几个小问题。科比向周捷询问了这椅子的生产过程和生产规模，提问之后，周捷提出让科比坐下来试试这个价值10000美元的“椅子”，于是科比慢慢的放低身体，小心翼翼了坐了上去，忽然，他表情一变，说道“这也许是我坐过的最舒适的椅子了，真的！”——然后他转头对尼克说道“伙计，你一定要试试！”
译注1：该设计的核心理念是探讨数字物体的成形方式，并结合手工艺和前沿的数控技术，把虚拟转为现实。通过特定的软件，每件家具都可以根据客户的形态实现数字化定制。其作品基于“自然而然”的概念。遵循数字逻辑和遵从在数字环境下的法则。他的设计没有预期，不知道会有什么样的结果，出来的东西全凭'可能性’。http://roll.sohu.com/20121230/n362060517.shtml http://site.douban.com/108148/widget/notes/164013/note/209447659/
坐下来试试：在他中国行的设计日里，科比会见了青年艺术家张周捷，他是一位特地独行，用电脑模拟设计的设计师，其产品价值高达10000美元。在试坐之后，科比惊呼“个人坐过的最舒服的椅子。”
科比的业余生活——开公司，读伪史，听故事
而我们的科比先生呢，他新开了一家公司，这位新人企业家对这一行充满了好奇。在他进行膝盖恢复训练的初期，他的活动限制为每天45分钟自行车练习，这就给了他23小时15分钟来把心思放在除篮球以外的事物上，这很煎熬。“你的感觉就像是生活失去了目标，”科比说道“这一点也不好。”于是科比开始陪他的孩子们看“摩登家庭”，开始看许多商业方面的书籍，并四处拜访那些他欣赏尊敬的人，他认真地记下笔记，到现在，他已经写满了好几个笔记本。这是他的第四本，“没什么，就是一些随笔，草图，表格，指导什么的，我在纪录片里和许多人谈过话，向他们询问怎样建立公司，他们怎么做笔记之类的。”（科比说话有个习惯，喜欢发誓，但他现在也意识到有时发誓并没有用。这让他变得温和，在他和那些“不那么科比”的人的交流中，这也是一种填补交流代沟的尝试。）
“你知道乔丹退役之后的生活有多难受么？”一个总经理说道“科比的情况会更糟，至少乔丹还有别的爱好，比如打高尔夫和扑克。”
最近，科比开始对一些读一些名人伪史，而且深深的着了迷。有时他会说一些似是而非的东西，比如“你知道吗，达芬奇这辈子就没有从事过艺术领域，从来没有。”他也会偶尔给苹果公司执行总监乔纳森-艾维或者奥普拉打电话，向他们取取生意经。相比其他运动员来说，科比的关注点颇为与众不同，他想要知道事物是如何运作的，以及行之有效的方法和原因。去年，他成立了科比有限公司，他需要一位创新人才——阿德里安-菲尔柴德斯，佳得乐功能饮料有限公司的前CEO，科比曾与他共事，他十分欣赏阿德里安的创造力，科比的杀手本能继承于他那位意志坚强的母亲，于是毅然聘请了菲尔柴德斯。科比的偶像——史蒂夫-乔布斯和李小龙，给了科比竖立了一个成功的楷模。他们是局外人，但他们却还是掌握了生意的体系，他们排除万难，最终获得成功。从他们的身上，科比不仅看到了指引的方向，更看到了成功的可能。
今年初的时候，科比听说了一个迈克尔-杰克逊的小故事，杰克逊也是科比的偶像之一。这是一个发生在“颤栗”专辑（Thriller）之前的小故事，杰克逊那会儿几乎痴迷于比吉斯乐队，尤其是“周末夜狂热”专辑（Saturday NightFever），那时候，“周末夜狂热是世界上最畅销的专辑。但迈克尔决心要超越比吉斯乐队，于是他一遍又一遍地听着这张专辑，每一首歌，反反复复，就这样听了整整两年。杰克逊告诉他的朋友们说，他每天都要把“周末夜狂热”听上十遍，直到他记住每一个音符，每一个节拍，直到他讲所有旋律深深的印在脑海里。然后发现旋律中的奥秘并将之归为己用。一年后，“颤栗专辑”横空出世，一股“颤栗”风暴席卷了全世界，它立刻成为了新的最畅销专辑，全世界累积卖出超过6000万张专辑。
听完了这个小故事，科比已然不能自拔。“我特么爱死这个故事了！”科比说道。在这个故事里，有着一切科比所喜爱的品质——职业道德，热情，执着以及追求，全都在这个神话般的故事里。杰克逊是否真的每天听十遍“周末夜狂热”，还是每天五遍？他真的坚持了两年，还是只有两个月？好吧，科比不关心这些问题，与其寻找真相，科比更愿意把这当成一种神话来激励自己。
而讲这个故事给科比听的人，就是科比纪录片的导演，39岁的哥谭-乔普拉。新时代古鲁大师译注1迪巴克-乔普拉译注2的儿子。哥谭的经历也颇为传奇——一出生就是镜头的焦点，儿时就出现在电视上，少年时就被狗仔队紧盯着，上大学的时候还出了几本书。他的童年就和科比一样传奇，只不过他们的方向不同罢了。
译注2：古鲁，意为神圣和最高的智慧。
译注3：被称为“医学诗人/先知”，在印度出生成长，1984年引介印度草医学到美国，开启身心医学和全方位愈疗的风潮。曾担任诸多杂志的编辑顾问，1992年被选为国家健康研究院特别委员，经常在联合国、世界卫生组织等机构讲座授课。写过二十五本书，作品已被译成三十五种文字。同时，他也创作了一百部以上的录音及录像带系列作品。
两年前，科比和哥谭在一个共同好友的介绍下认识了，随后，因为都喜欢漫画书，他们的感情逐渐熟络起来。科比想拍一部电影记录他从跟腱撕裂中努力恢复的过程。而风度翩翩，长着一对棕色大眼睛的哥谭是一位不折不扣的凯尔特人死忠，这点正是科比喜欢的，他与哥谭一拍即合，很快就签下了合约，尽管当时这部电影的构思还比较模糊。“嘿，要你拍电影的是科比-布莱恩特啊，我还能不拍么？”他说。
之后，科比伤了膝盖，再次报销。这部电影的主题与内容不得不随之进行调整。但这次伤病却给了科比灵感——科比称之为“我的沉思”。在过去一年多的时间里，哥谭和科比在一起的时间大概有70天。他一遍一遍的剪切粘贴着胶卷，在修改调整的后期制作过程中，一个年轻，有经验，充满精力的小组在圣塔莫尼卡办公室的二楼夜以继日的忙活着，这些二十出头的年轻人要删选出电影需要的胶卷，这架势就像是要开发什么新技术。
这部电影计划在12月份上映，正好是科比正式复出的时间。哥谭说电影已经完成了95%，现在急需送进剪辑室。但科比却说“和我去一趟上海吧，”于是哥谭也去了上海。以下是拍摄素材的经过，打个比方，哥谭会在凌晨5点收到短信“六点，新港海滩见。”然后哥谭立刻收拾装备，带上摄像小组，匆忙赶到海滩，此时，他还不知道他究竟要拍些什么。有时，他也会在半路上收到科比助理阿什利的短信，告诉他“这次活动取消。”
作为一个导演，乔普拉想要拍一部具有启发意义的电影。这就意味着他现在的位置很尴尬，他这辈子都是站在摄像机前——塑造角色，书写自己的传奇，就像迈克尔-杰克逊曾经做的那样——现在他要让科比放下防备，他试过了，这很难。我也曾问过科比，为什么他到现在都还没有找人代笔给他写传记？科比说他考虑过这个问题。他看了安德烈-阿加西的自传（亲笔），写的很棒。科比很佩服他，但若是让他也出一本自传，科比说“我也想自己亲笔讲述自己的故事。”但随后科比又说道“但我还没准备好，写自传意味着你的一切都会透明化，如果你准备写一本自传，那你就要做好心理准备，你的一切都会完全公开。我还没做好准备。”
科比现在更注重效率，无论生活还是事业。他知道自己需要做什么才能找回原来的状态，成为球队的王牌。但他现在也敏锐的察觉到生活的重要性，他需要发现除篮球以外的目标。
科比之道——原则和教育
现在的科比说话时喜欢用比喻，但他的寓意始终是原来那套法则——坚持不懈，永不放弃，只要你努力，就能获得成功。无论是接受采访，在训练营讲话，还是发表演讲，不厌其烦，他总是说着一个相同的故事——很多年前，费城的一个夏天，那时他还是一个小毛孩，他在当地的夏季联赛中一分没得，整个联赛下来，得到零分。或者是他四岁的时候就要和那些年长的，更厉害的对手比空手道，他被打的满地找牙，那段经历让他学会了生存法则，也是他现在更好的原因。这就是科比的魅力和他的社交技巧——讲述人生中的重要时刻，强调关键词，简单扼要——他让他的每个故事听起来都像是一个新故事，并且讲述地颇有见解，那感觉就像是一个深谙此道的政客。“有人告诉我，当你去了中国，你就知道人们是真的在响应他的教诲，”乔普拉笑了起来，说道“科比？教育？”
“但布泽尔可以做这方面，乔丹-希尔可以做另一方面，林书豪也能有所贡献，如何最好的利用每一个人的优势并获得胜利？这是我们要解决的谜题，如果我们能解开这个谜题，我们就能让世人大吃一惊。”
科比之道在于坚持不懈和刻苦努力。最近科比在和他公司的合伙人的一次交谈正好被哥谭拍了下来，哥谭把这个片段放进了科比纪录片——科比抱怨道“我们以为正常的事，比如教育孩子获得奖牌不重要，这（争取奖牌）只能排在第四位，扯！淡！”科比想通过他的公司传递一个完全不同的理念，他称之为“竞争精神”。在他自己的家里，科比对他八岁的女儿的教育是去争取胜利，只不过科比会说“竞争”。教育的内容还是那一套科比法则——只要你去努力，哪怕你输了，这会让你意识到你究竟有多渴望取胜。乔普拉对此评价道“有时我会告诉科比，你的成功显而易见，因此你之前的努力都有意义。但你的这个输赢观念，这个竞争精神是不是适用于每一方面？打篮球，是的。做生意，也许。但是教育，不太合适吧。友情？那时关乎互相妥协让步的。这是我的经验。”（还有一件事，有一次哥谭向科比介绍了他七岁大的儿子，之后，科比对哥谭说道“我在考虑也制造一个儿子。”说的好像儿子是一件产品）
此时此刻，科比的观念已经无法改变。在中国的这一个星期里，他不断地重复着他的人生哲学，告诉中国的小朋友“要坚强”，“从失败中汲取教训”，“坚持不懈，努力变得更好”。但事实上——科比鼓励这些孩子们要从软弱中成长，但他却从没有在他自己身上表现出来。我们都知道他从跟腱伤势中恢复，但你知道么？科比想要把腿上那该死的护具扯下来，然后走上球场，投上两三个罚球。
衰老？科比公然抨击“没有人可以战胜时光老人”这一概念。随着林书豪和布泽尔的加盟，科比宣称他正在考虑总冠军。而且他对此深信不疑。“首先，我确定科比深信他们可以打进季后赛，”一位总经理说道“其次，我确定科比深信这是他的责任。这就是为什么他是科比，他有着超越常理的自信心。”
这对新的后场搭档，科比和前对手林书豪的化学反应将决定湖人新赛季可以走的多远。
科比中国行——第三天
现在是科比中国行的第三天，他回到了黑曼巴巢穴继续拍摄。这是耐克精心策划的一场真人秀，尽管这里面全都是科比元素，你所看到的有关科比包括科比元素的每一件事，都是在为他那些致敬偶像的新鞋促销，比如李小龙别注，贝多芬别注，以及颤栗专辑别注。
这场真人秀是耐克计划中的一场长期公然的广告，这还要感谢耐克公司和NBA将中国视为市场最前线（联盟已经在北京建立了一座130000平方公尺的总部，新任总裁亚当-萧华甚至表示，他将中国视为NBA发展的关键）。而耐克则向全中国的年轻人征集一个30秒的视频，从中挑选出最有趣的短片。詹姆斯中国行将这些视频的范围缩小到30个，随后科比将之缩小到10个。尽管詹姆斯的人气和影响力惊人，但安保阿提拉却说“说道影响力，没有谁能比得上科比。”他在亚洲为NBA球星的安保任务工作了近十年，之前他也负责了詹姆斯的安保工作。
“你可以发现其中一个（的人气）正在努力接近另一个，”阿提拉说道。
“这是否意味着科比的人气和球迷更多？”记者问。
“多了去了。”他点头答道。
这个下午，科比正在教授小球员们一些具体的技巧。他显得非常耐心，一直指导着一个圆胖大耳的小孩，教他如何从右侧做出后仰跳投，虽然这个小孩大概在掌握更多基础动作前都不会考虑使用这个动作。他的后仰不断打铁，但是，科比仍然坚持要他一遍一遍的练习，“佯装向左，从右侧出手，”科比耐心的指导着“不要运球。”终于，这个小孩投进了，科比也终于开心的笑了。很显然，他是一位好老师，尽管他表示他对执教不感兴趣，但他一定能成为一个优秀的教练。只要他能保持这种耐心。
科比总会将快乐与努力联系在一起，好像快乐是必须争取的。在科比的眼里，所有得来容易的东西，都不值得的珍惜。
这些中国的年轻人都是耐克精挑细选的优秀球员，但他们亟需帮助。这其中只有一小部分人有能力在美国打上三级联赛，而大多数人甚至连美国高中的班队都进不了。他们没有姚明那般高达的身材，多数都是林书豪那样的球员——运球娴熟，主攻突破，跳投不稳，传球第二。
科比在观察的时候发现最后这个问题（传球第二）尤其严重。这次活动的最后，小球员们打起了半场5对5。科比就在旁边观察着，每当一个球员拿球，他们总是忽略了队友的存在，然后开始一打五，最后以一个疯狂的动作结束。科比极力掩饰着失望，他鼓励到“防的好，防的好！”
表面上，球迷是在为这次活动而欢呼，但实际上，他们根本不在乎场上的这些年轻球员。相反，他们一直期待着科比会看向他们自己的方向，他们举着横幅，举着写有MVP的海报，嘶声喊着，每隔几分钟，现场就会爆发出一阵整齐划一的“科！比！科！比！”的口号。这持续了整整两个小时，看上去他们精疲力竭，却又兴奋不已。
在美国，或是其他的地方，人们都知道真人秀不过是一场赤裸裸的市场营销，是营销高层策划出的吸引眼球，提升商业价值的表演。但在这里，人们却不这么看，粉丝忽略了这个事实。杰克-布洛赫，哥谭手下25岁的制片人，他是半个中国人，他将之称为中国的“认知前”心态。录像的最后，科比将自己签名的篮球抛往观众席，未曾料到皮球所到之处竟扭打撕扯起来，一片混乱，这令人感到难受。就好像“蝇王”译注4中的故事一样。录像中还有一段，是一个小女孩一手吹小号，一手运球的画面，她吹的是“泰坦尼克号”里的经典曲目“我心永恒”。
译注4：《蝇王》是英国作家、诺贝尔文学奖获得者威廉·戈尔丁的代表作，是一本重要的哲理小说，借小孩的天真来探讨人性的恶这一严肃主题。故事发生于想象中的*河蟹*，一群六岁至十二岁的儿童在撤退途中因飞机失事被困在一座荒岛上，起先尚能和睦相处，后来由于恶的本性的膨胀起来，便互相残杀，发生悲剧性的结果。
除此以外，其他都还很正常。
球迷与父亲——无条件的爱
为什么中国如此喜爱科比？为什么科比也同样喜爱中国？答案其实很简单，在一个*河蟹*的国家里，科比就意味着解放，他代表这西方世界最好的形象，他具有东方人的气质——坚持职业道德，刻苦努力，知道成功。假如退役了，他大可以在中国开一家诊所，好好享受他的退休时光。就像大卫-哈塞尔霍夫那样，只不过他高一点，也黑一点。
至于科比这个人，在中国，他就像是球迷横幅上面写得那样——“永葆青春”。当地媒体对他的喜爱，球迷们只是单纯的爱着他，不会对他提出过多的期望和要求。假如在美国，每次湖人客场的比赛，也会有球迷在球队大巴旁等待着签名，但如果球员没理他，40岁的老男人会气的破口大骂。在上海的某个早晨，我看到一批年轻人在香格里拉大酒店的门外等着，那会儿还不到10点，一直到11点半，他们还在那里，等待着，期待着，向每一个路过的外国人询问他们是否知道科比什么时候回来。他们手里拿着手写的纸板，每张纸上都有一个英文单词，写着“科比，我们能和你拍一张照吗？[爱心]”
中国的球迷和美国的球迷对科比的反应完全不同，在上海，这些小球迷表现出的是对科比无条件的爱。
这种无条件的爱十分难得。科比成长的过程中也曾接受过这种爱护，从他的父母那里。如今，他从这些17岁的中国小球迷身上也感受到了这种爱。
科比和他父亲之间的感情很微妙。乔-布莱恩特是一个不错的NBA球员，也曾去海外打球，他是一个大前锋，打球派头十足。科比从自己身上几乎看不到父亲的影子。“我们什么几乎没有共同点，说实话。”科比如是说道。但科比最近也从比赛感受到了快乐，就像他的“甜豆”父亲一样，科比思忖了片刻，然后点了点头，“这很有趣，你说的对，我父亲能在比赛中散发出一种快乐的情绪，”科比说道“但我会说我更热爱这项运动，因为我是如此的热爱篮球，我每天都打球，从没有间断，一直一直一直一直不停地打。我他妈就是如此热爱篮球，伙计，来看我打球吧，我想要打球，不遗余力得打，全心全意得打，因为这他妈就是我最爱做的事。”
虽然科比曾说过“我们什么几乎没有共同点”，但科比最近却在比赛中表现出了他的快乐，而这，正是他父亲那著名的绰号“甜豆”的由来。
科比总会将快乐与努力联系在一起，好像快乐是必须争取的。在科比的世界里，所有得来容易的东西，都不值得珍惜。科比这么评价他在湖人的最后阶段所扮演的角色——头号混蛋。“你不是来这里抚慰人们的，”他解释道，声音渐高“你不能这么做，你是个领袖，你不是来这里做一个交际花，你来这里是为了带领人们前往理想的彼岸。很多人都不愿意这么做，因为他们想要被人们所喜爱，我也想被大家喜爱，但我知道，若干年后，他们会感谢我曾经激励过他们，让我们有了现在的成就。”
科比往回挪了挪身体，他沉思着，任思绪随风飘散，静默了一阵后，他终于开口说话，“这很不容易，朋友。这该死的过程很艰难。所以那些站在远处看着我们夺冠，庆祝，享受胜利的人不会理解，他们会说'哦，这就是领导力啊，这就是你科比是怎么赢的胜利的，每个人都相处融洽，兄弟般的感情，一起闲逛，不拉不拉不拉。’”
跟他讨论“独行侠”这个话题时，他明白这个角色已经融入了他的生活。“独来独往，你隐藏不了这点，我说，你不能欺骗自己。”科比说道。
科比调整了下坐姿，身体略向前倾，“不，不是这样的，你可以去问拉马尔-奥多姆和亚当-莫里斯，我们每天都针锋相对，互相争吵，挑衅，甚至攻击。这才是事实。但这样做令人难受，它让人很不舒服，对吧？这很难受。”
这是科比的方式，告诉队友他可不会口下留情，他认为这种令人难受的言论会起到激励效果。但他的方式并不适合所有人，比如，德怀特-霍华德。有些人欣赏这种方式。在拍电影的过程中，乔普拉采访了许多科比的队友，现队友，前队友都有，他问他们“用不超过三个词来形容科比这个人？”科比总喜欢在采访后偷偷短信乔普拉，他很想知道人们对他的评价。大多数的答案是“终极竞争者”，“杀手本能”。但有一个人的回答十分耐人寻味，史蒂夫-纳什，他稍微思考了一阵，然后慢慢的说出了三个词“了不起的混蛋（Mother F------ A------）”。
科比听后大笑，这评价棒极了！
孤独与动力——科比的经历
人们很容易忘记科比这一路所经历的事。从一个懵懂未知的小毛孩，到一个高中明星，到一个乔丹式杀手，再到一个三连冠的二当家——尽管他并不适合在大个身边做二当家。接下来就是强奸案，他的人气声誉都在鹰郡跌入谷底，所有的赞助商都解除了合约，只有一周前与科比签下合约的耐克没有。科比照单全然接受了一切，他开始成为了一个纯粹的竞争者，他注定要成为竞争者。接下来的五年，我们看到了最强的科比，他的表现无与伦比，难以忘怀。他呵斥队友，攻击对手，砍下81分，他有这个能力。终于，在2009年，他率领自己的球队获得了总冠军，所有的重担也随之烟消云散。但是，在一张封面的照片上——凌晨三点，刚刚夺冠的科比坐在酒店大厅的加冕椅上，身边围绕着他的朋友，但他却看向远方，还是如此的孤独。
有些人的孤独是被迫的，科比也清楚。他总是称自己为“一个来自意大利的小毛孩”。他会骄傲的说着他儿时在后院练球的故事，没有球，也没有人，他假想着对手，做着脑海中的跳投动作，在空无一人的后院锻炼着自己的自信心。跟他讨论“独行侠”这个话题时，他明白这个角色已经融入了他的生活。“独来独往，你隐藏不了这点，我说，你不能欺骗自己。”科比说道。
因此，科比找到了自己那不同寻常的动力来源——孤独。这就是为什么他最近爱上了反名人系列伪史。这就是为什么他在NBA的朋友少之又少。最后，这也是为什么菲尔-杰克逊会说科比退役之后也能成功，而其他人就不一定了。“你知道乔丹退役之后的生活有多难受么？”一个总经理说道“科比的情况会更糟，他的朋友不多，还无时无刻保持着竞争之心。至少乔丹还有别的爱好，比如打高尔夫和扑克。”
科比的职业生涯充满了转变，一开始，他是乔丹接班人，接着在沙奎尔-奥尼尔身边获得三连冠，鹰郡一案让他身败名裂（最终撤消了起诉），最终他再次夺得总冠军，率领自己的球队。
科比中国行——第五天
现在是周六的下午，科比上海站的第五天，接连不断的活动，科比累坏了。漫长的一周里，科比微笑致意，拍摄照片，参加设计峰会，出席晚宴，训练，还要在球场上指导球员。科比累了，今天早上的训练中，科比的双腿已经有些酸痛，他慢慢的走进他的VVIP房间。你问他是如何处理如此多的活动，奉承，追捧，粉丝，雕像？他有些吃惊。雕像？他没有注意到雕像，他说。这真是不可思议。随后，在返回美国的途中，他向自己团队的成员们问道“你们有看到那些雕像吗？”他们都点头。
“你们觉得怎么样？”科比继续问道。
“酷，那些雕像很酷。”尼克回答说。
“是啊，那很酷...”科比顿了顿，“对吧？”
整个上海站，科比一直努力地做好自己的角色。一场又一场的活动，他的脸已经有些僵硬，看起来很奇怪，但他还是在每一次执意球迷，每一次接受球迷的欢呼时面带微笑。他双手摆出“V”状，坚持着传递积极的影响力。科比让自己保持友好，保持着善意。他坚持要做好“导师”的角色，而不是刻薄的西蒙-考威尔式的评委。因此，在裁员的时候，科比更多是选择那些积极努力的球员，而不是淘汰那些实力稍弱的球员。孩子们想表现自己，经常一打四，一打五，场面有些拙劣难堪。但科比没有表现出不满，他尽职尽责的鼓励着孩子们“现在你们打得越来越好了”，“哦...这球应该传啊。”
他还是表现了出来，于是他决定和中国的小球员们进行一场一对一比赛。周三晚上，科比的单挑视频迅速上传到网上，各大体育网站竞相刊登这段视频。题目是——科比在一对一中所向披靡。你可以看到科比在一个瘦长的小伙头上投中一记超远三分，这真是太科比-布莱恩特了，这就是他的黑曼巴主义。
一开始，在和中国学生的单挑中科比还显得有些生疏，但他慢慢找回了感觉，最后，他给了球员和球迷一个近距离接触自己的机会。
黑曼巴的单挑赛
这场单挑并不是计划中安排的，但随着小球员们一次次打铁，科比的情绪逐渐被调动起来。他起身做了几个胯下运球，然后撇了撇嘴，在这场活动即将结束的时候从主持人手中拿过了麦克风，说道“你们大概很久没有看我打球了，所以我们还是来一场一对一比赛吧。”是的，我们确实很久没有看他打比赛了。哥谭没见过，他的训练师也没有见过。“在费城的时候，我们把这种淘汰制的单挑叫做“日出”，”科比说道“得分的人就能继续留在场上。”
两个主持人颇为吃惊，这个突如其来的决定让他们有些不知所措，但随后，看到科比取下了身上的电子装备，并走上场做了几个投篮训练，他们很快反应过来，为科比解说这场单挑。科比从30个球员里挑选出了最好的三个人，然后开始了这场轮换淘汰的单挑赛，每轮一球，胜者留下，一共打五球。现场的球迷，你可以想象出来，完全疯狂了。
但一开始科比的身手有些生疏，嗯，应该说非常生疏。他的跳投都偏短，甚至投出了三不沾，他防守不那么认真，进攻也多为篮下五尺的勾射。看上去他的正式回归还需要很长一段时间，而不是广告所说的很快。忽然，科比来了劲，他在一个球员的紧逼之下投中了一记三分球，他开始争抢远距离篮板，转身虚晃招牌式后仰跳投。在面对一个异常兴奋而积极的防守球员时，他先是背打，待防守球员贴上来时，他从运球绕过防守球员的身后，接球转身后仰一气呵成，这球引爆了现场球迷的情绪，两个支持也兴奋不已。这才是球迷想看到的。科比后来解释说“他们想知道现场看我打球是什么感觉，近距离看我打球，想要这种经历。”
只不过，这场单挑的最后，科比输了。视频里没有这一段，科比以为自己已经十拿九稳了，手握4分，还剩一个人。但随后这个身穿10号最高的中国小伙投中了一记17尺外的擦板投篮，抢到了科比的三分，接着他又战胜了另外两个人，顺利获得胜利。而科比只能在场下看着他拿到胜利。号外！中国无名小卒单挑打败了科比-布莱恩特。
（随后，大处女座科比又与这个十号进行了全场一对一，还是五球，科比获胜。）
视频链接：http://www.letv.com/ptv/vplay/20447316.html
这回就是私人恩怨了，于是训练营清空了球场，场上的对手是——NBA历史前五的球星科比-布莱恩特，以及不知道从哪来的中国小孩。
很显然，科比不能接受这个结果，在小孩振臂欢呼的时候，科比鼓了三下掌，然后抓起了话筒，他收起了微笑，不再开着玩笑，“OK，我们再来一场！”科比宣布“先得五分赢，全场。”两个主持人惊呆了，同时他们很担心科比的身体情况，“你确定吗？”一个主持人问道。科比之队的球员都站到了边线，全场一对一？还拖着一条会没恢复的伤腿？几乎一整年没有打比赛？你都可以想象到明天的头条——再次伤退！科比在一场单挑秀中膝伤复发。
没有人劝科比，同样，也没有人会考虑那两个输了球的孩子，他们甚至被嘘出场外。这回就是私人恩怨了，于是训练营清空了球场，场上的对手是——NBA历史前五的球星科比-布莱恩特，以及不知道从哪来的中国小孩。科比还是很慢热，他慢慢悠悠的走到前场，投丢了他的第一球，但谁都知道，这次科比绝不会输了。回到防守端，科比盖掉了10号的上篮，没有停顿——也不管规则——科比拿到了球权。接下来，科比投中了一记23尺跳投，跑回自己半场的时候，科比活动了下肩膀，感受投篮的感觉，感受比赛的感觉。然后是一个22尺外的跳投，有了。现在科比找到状态了，他比划着手枪动作，吹着“手枪”。紧接着一个26尺外的超远三分，中，现场再次爆发出一阵欢呼。科比越投越远，30尺外超远三分，进了。而这个小伙则先是进了一个上篮，然后他还了一个三分，但科比并没有认真防守，何况这两球对大局也不会有影响。现在四比二，我们都知道接下来会发生什么，但科比两次超远三分打铁，终于，科比改变了打法，他运球来到三分外左侧，顶着对手，连续的胯下运球，然后加速，一个后撤步拉回来，接着一个变向再次加速，小伙勉强跟上，科比立刻做了一个半转身，小伙已被完全骗过去，科比转身回来，无人防守，一个后仰跳投，球进，科比获得了胜利。他转身举起双手，接受球迷的欢呼，他神情得意，好像赢得了他的第六座总冠军奖杯而不是一场突发奇想的球迷单挑赛...最后，黑曼巴恢复成了美国偶像科比，他拿起麦克风，对那位十号球员说道“你还需要加强自己的左手，主持你可别翻译错了。”
视频链接：http://www.letv.com/ptv/vplay/20413901.html
这是一个有趣而戏剧化的故事，整整一周，科比都保持着绅士，友好，做一个好人。但在这个晚上，他才变回那个真正的自己，那个黑曼巴之王。不过，这才是球迷们书熟悉的科比，这才是球迷们想见到想从中学习的科比。科比本可以按照计划出席活动，微笑致意，然后打包回酒店。但他却多花了一个小时的时间来单挑，活动的最后，科比搂着另外四名球员拍，浑身是汗，拍了张照。照片里的科比只穿了一双白色的袜子，他的球鞋早就送了出去。
这就是黑曼巴主义背后的真相，这就是背后的故事。现实往往没那么简单。有时你得找回面子，再次挑战那个少年。然后你会肘击他，背打他，凶狠的掏球；会拿下一个界外球，无视规则直接发球；还会在身体状况不佳时坚持上场。因为，
归根结底，这都是为了胜利。
这就是科比这个人。
科比恢复训练视频——牺牲铸就伟大
他的第十九个赛季正等着他，外界有理由认为科比和他的球队不行，但科比似乎决心要给他们好看，要证明自己和自己的球队。这个最可怕的竞争者即将面对新的挑战。
祝你生日快乐，祝你健康，祝你好运。
Twilight the saga
Twilight the sagaFor even the most competitive athlete, the transition game is never easy. So what drives Kobe Bryant at age 36, as he comes off serious injury and prepares for his 19th NBA season—and all that lies beyond?
BY CHRIS BALLARD
The thick-armed man moves quickly, establishing a perimeter and securing the entryway. This is his seventh year on Kobe Bryant’s overseas security team, and he knows how quickly things can go sideways, especially in China. Once, four years ago in Shandong Province, a guy slept overnight on the roof of a gym, curled in the darkness, and then, when Kobe approached, leaped from a low overhang, yelling, “Kohhhh-beeee!” In one fluid motion Attila Portik—for that is the muscle-bound man’s name, of Hungarian origin—intercepted the crazed fan and hurled him aside, as if bailing out a boat. Another time, the mob breached the perimeter and swarmed in, so close that one ripped out Bryant’s earring. Just a year ago teenagers in Shanghai scaled police cars to get a view. The cops didn’t stop them; they too were trying to see. Now Attila and his counterpart, a buzz-cut L.A. police officer named Robert Lara, insist on metal barricades and use decoy cars. You have not seen hysteria, Attila explains, until you’ve seen Kobe in China.
On this late-July- afternoon, fans have been massing for hours in the humid air outside Jiangwan Stadium, here in the northeast part of Shanghai, amid the high-rises and the smog and the clamor. They arrive wearing Kobe jerseys and shirts that read ring collector and 24 on the floor. They carry poster boards and giant banners. One reads pray for kobe, above a photo of Bryant holding his cracked kneecap. Another reads forever young, with the tagline to the great father, excellent player. Two nearby outdoor basketball courts are polka-dotted with yellow-and-purple -number 24 jerseys—short, skinny Kobes driving on chubby Kobes then passing to wiry, bespectacled Kobes. Nearby, vendors hawk homemade kobe hats and black mamba temporary tattoos. Conspicuously, no one wears generic Lakers gear. They do not care about the team, only Kobe. He is like a cross between Justin Bieber and Neo from The Matrix.
At 5:45 p.m. the riot cops arrive, wearing helmets and toting shields and long metal poles that end in U-shaped curves wide enough to corral a man’s neck. By 6:30 the street is clogged with gold jerseys. Fans climb lampposts and scramble up trees. Some have tickets for tonight’s event; others will wait more than five hours just to see Kobe walk into a building.
This summer’s stop in Shanghai was Bryant’s ninth visit to China in the past 15 years, and the fervor over his presence was greater than ever. The autorities, clearly, were prepared to handle the throngs of fans who turned out—most in Kobe gear—to catch a glimpse of their idol.
Just after sundown it happens. A black van with tinted windows pulls through the iron gates. The mob, thousands strong, begins pogoing up and down, emitting a guttural noise. Koohhhh-beeee! Kooohhh-bee! The riot cops tense, ready to hold the line. And now Bryant emerges, wearing a white T?shirt and shorts. This is his ninth visit to China in the last 15 years, but he is still surprised every time he sees the fervor anew. So Bryant waves and moves quickly, striding up the stairs and into the gym, past a row of purple spotlights and two life-size porcelain statues of himself in mid-dunk and into what was once a gymnasium but for the week has been remade by Nike into something that can only be described as a temple, and that is unironically dubbed the House of Mamba.
Striding past the wall-sized rack of purple basketballs, down a hall lined with giant inspirational Kobe quotes and trailed by a team of nearly a dozen handlers, Bryant is directed to a room marked VVIP. There he is outfitted with a microphone headset and transponders on each triceps. In the next three hours he will preside over a bizarre basketball TV show, part American Idol, part Hunger Games, part Terry Gilliam fever dream, that is held on an LED-lit court while Chinese emcees scream in Mandarin and young women weep. And then, at night’s end, Bryant will, to the shock and dismay of his handlers, go off-script and challenge a Chinese teenager to a full-court game of one-on-one on his rebuilt knee and Achilles, footage of which will later leak onto the Web. Afterward a young man in a 24 jersey will leap from the stands and literally prostrate himself in front of Bryant, hands clasped together in prayer to a roundball deity.
And this is only Kobe’s first day in China.
Back in the States, if all goes as planned, Bryant will, a little more than two months from now jog down a tunnel in Staples Center, acknowledge a cheering crowd and play in his first NBA game since fracturing his left kneecap last Decem-ber. It will mark his 19th season in the league, a career during which time he has won five titles and one MVP award, and logged more minutes than all but 12 men in NBA history. Barring any transactional miracles, his most-talented teammates this season will be Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin and Julius Randle. Naturally, Bryant is certain that this makeshift crew is capable of greatness. “I hear people say, ‘They don’t have a championship team,’?” Bryant said a week earlier, while peering out an eighth-floor window at the Beverly Hills Hilton. “Yeah, maybe from your perspective”—and here Bryant pauses, narrows his eyes—“but Boozer does this, Jordan Hill does that, Lin adds that. What’s the best way to put all these pieces together and use them to win? That’s the puzzle to figure out, and if we can figure out that puzzle, we’ll shock a lot of people.” Bryant was at the Hilton on this afternoon to promote an upcoming Showtime documentary, for which he is an executive producer. He’d just finished sitting on a media panel alongside Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza and the film’s director, Gotham Chopra. Almost immediately, a reporter veered off topic and asked about the Lakers’ future. And then about LeBron. Espinoza guy cut off the question, snapping, “You’re not wasting [any more of] our time.” But Bryant waved him off. He understands that people only care about the movie because they care about his career. As he put it, “That’s part of the entire damn story.”
A new kind of Showtime: Bryant (here with the network’s Espinoza, far left, and Chopra) is the focus of an upcoming documentry entitled Kobe Bryant’s Muse. The filmmaker, like his subject, was raised by a famous father.
Now, up in a sprawling eighth-floor suite with views of the Hollywood hills, Bryant continues to talk optimistically about what’s to come. His confidence is as admirable as it is predictable. And yet on paper the Lakers look an awful lot like a lottery team that is overly reliant on one aging star. There is not much hope on the horizon, either. Seven months after he ruptured his left Achilles -tendon—and three weeks before he fractured his left -kneecap—Bryant- signed a $48.5 million, two-year deal. The contract, widely derided as the worst in the game, makes Bryant nearly impossible to move, even were the Lakers to try. Asked about Kobe’s value on the market, one GM answers definitively: “Zero. Look at that number. Who takes him?”
This is by design, of course. It ensures that Bryant accomplishes something very few pro athletes have: playing an entire career with one team. Bryant’s plan is to retire in two years, though he says he reserves the right to change his mind. Thus one of the game’s greatest players and one of its two fiercest -competitors—Michael- Jordan being the -other—will likely exit the league laboring for an undermanned squad in a stacked conference. It seems wrong. Never the type for farewell tours, Bryant bristles at the idea of parading from arena to arena, receiving parting gifts and teary-eyed salutes. “No, no, no, no, I’m good,” he says, waving his hands. “If you booed me for 18, 19 years, boo me for the 20th. That’s the game, man.”
Bryant bristles at the idea of parting gifts and teary-eyed salutes: “If you booed me for 18, 19 years, boo me for the 20th. That’s the game, man.”
But most of them won’t boo. Much as happens with other sports villains in their later years, fans have warmed to Bryant. It helps that in his latest iteration he has become the truthsayer of the NBA, the closest there is to Charles Barkley among the playing ranks, ready to tell it like it is. Most people hit the f-it stage of life at age 70 or 75. Bryant, who will turn 36 shortly after returning to the States, appears to have arrived there already. (“It’s because I’m 70 in basketball years,” he jokes.)
Eighteen months is a long time, though. Before his Achilles injury, he was an MVP candidate and the Lakers had Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Now? Now he’s got Nick Young and Wesley Johnson while the national conversation centers around KD and LeBron and Kevin Love.
Bryant understands this, even if he won’t abide it. This may be “the finale of my career,” as he calls it, but he intends to go out as he came in, guns firing. Still, as he prepares for the comeback from his comeback, Bryant has become more introspective. He is interested in his place in the game, in documenting his life. He wants to disseminate what he’s learned. To spread the gospel of Kobe. Which helps explain why he has come to China.
The crowds in Shanghai, bordering at times on mobs, clamored for—and photographed—Kobe at every stop on his tour.
At 8:25 a.m. on Bryant’s second day in Shanghai, he walks into the near-empty gym on the fourth floor of the towering Shangri-La hotel in west Shanghai. Seeing a reporter, he smiles, saying, “So you made it out after all.” And with that, Bryant begins one of his legendary workouts.
He starts on the stationary bike, which he rides leisurely for 15 minutes, staring out the window through a light drizzle at the morning traffic on the Yan’an Elevated Road. Then it’s on to some leg extensions, followed by body weight exercises. Throughout, Bryant keeps up a running conversation with his good friend and Nike account manager, Nico Harrison, an easygoing former Montana State forward. Some of Kobe’s favorite topics of conversation include: what Bryant read on Techcrunch the night before, the latest news on Buzzfeed and whether Katy Perry is a genius businesswoman or just a plain genius. (Bryant has been a longtime admirer of Perry’s and was nervous when he met her for the first time recently, when both happened to be dining at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.) At one point Bryant even appears to break a sweat.
Now more introspective, Bryant wants to disseminate what he has learned, to spread the gospel of Kobe. Which helps explain why he has come to China.
This is the dirty little secret that becomes apparent while spending a week around Bryant in Shanghai: He is human. He does not wake at 2 a.m. to run wind sprints through the streets of the city. He does not spend three hours a day doing visualization exercises while chanting samurai mantras. And sometimes his workout in a hotel gym is pretty much the same as the workout you or I would do in a hotel gym. This is the reality of being 35 years old, with the legs of a 45-year-old.
While he retains his superhuman -tolerance—“He has the highest pain threshold I’ve ever seen,” says his longtime physical therapist, Judy Seto—even Bryant knows that he can only push so far. He is coming off two significant injuries. His body needs to rest. Recently he saw a top nutritionist, hoping to find some magic diet that would restore his energy to its earlier levels, as if aging is but a matter of changing your carbs-to-protein ratio. “There are certain things that my body can’t do that I used to be able to do,” Bryant admits. “And you have to be able to deal with those. First you have to be able to figure out what those are. Last year when I came back, I was trying to figure out what changed. And that’s a very hard conversation to have.” Bryant pauses. “So when I hear the pundits and people talk, saying, ‘Well, he won’t be what he was.’ Know what? You’re right! I won’t be. But just because something evolves, it doesn’t make it any less better than it was before.”
Despite spending the better part of the last two seasons recovering from a pair of injuries, Bryant is optimistic that he can close out his nearly two-decade career on a high.
Kobe’s focus these days is on efficiency. Over the summer he’s trained nearly every day, either at the Lakers’ facility or at a gym near his house in Orange County. Sometimes he’ll have a partner join him for drills– often 27-year-old Lakers small forward Wesley Johnson. In these instances Bryant takes on a mentoring role, pointing out Johnson’s wasted steps and where he can be more effective. Other times Bryant works out by himself, except for two ball boys, shooting and sweating for up to two hours, never talking. His goal is to regain his conditioning—after adding some body fat earlier in the year, he now looks almost frail with his shirt off. The end goal, of course, is to evolve. “I’ll be sharper,” he says. “Much sharper. Much more efficient in areas. I’ll be limited in terms of what you see me do, versus a couple years ago. But very, very methodical, very, very purposeful.”
On this morning in Shanghai, his hotel workout is certainly purposeful. He is done within an hour.Bryant heads to his room to get ready. Today is Design Day. Kobe has been to China so many times now that he has done all the tourist stuff. So a young Nike rep was tasked with putting together an itinerary of unusual experiences, broken down by theme. Yesterday was Greatness Day, today is Design Day and tomorrow, when Nike has arranged to close down a local museum, is Art Day.
Bryant’s black luxury van arrives in the early afternoon in the trendy M50 neighborhood, where he meets an -artist-designer named Zhang Zhoujie, who has been given Nikes to wear for the occasion. Zhoujie, a thin, nervous man in white jeans and wide-frame glasses, uses a computer to individually map each chair he designs so no two are alike. His personal narrative appeals to Bryant: Turned down by studios, Jie spent four years teaching himself how to produce the chairs. Now he sells them for 10 grand apiece and recently held a show in L.A., from which he returned with bags of official Kobe gear for his friends. Now he is meeting the actual man in the flesh, and he is having a hard time keeping it together. Tentatively, he presents a slide show to Bryant, who appears genuinely curious, putting his finger on his chin and nodding seriously, asking questions throughout. Bryant asks about process, about production scale. Asked to sit on the $10,000 chair, Bryant lowers himself slowly, then says, “This might be the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in. Seriously”—and here he motions at Nico—“you gotta try this.”
Take a chair: On his “Design Day” in China, Bryant got the lowdown from artist Zhang Zhoujie, whose unique, computer-mapped pieces sell for $10,000 each. After a test seating, Kobe proclaimed it “the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in.”
This side of Kobe, the inquisitive entre-preneur, is a relatively new development. Early in his rehab from the knee injury, he was limited to 45 minutes a day on the exercise bike, which left him 23 hours and 15 minutes to focus on something other than basketball. It was hell. “You get this feeling that you’re living without a purpose,” says Bryant. “And that’s not O.K.” So Bryant watched Modern Family with his kids and read business tomes and spent long hours talking with people he admires and filling a series of notebooks. He’s on his fourth now. “Just nothing but sketches and drawing and org charts and direction and all this s---. Conversations I’ve had with muses, how they built their company, notes and all kinds of s---.” (One of Bryant’s conversational fallbacks is swearing in situations where swearing doesn’t necessarily seem warranted. It is a way to soften himself, an attempt to bridge the gap he assumes exists when talking to people unlike himself.)
“You know how it’s been hard for Jordan in retirement?” says one GM. “It’s going to be way worse to be Kobe. At least MJ likes to golf and play cards.”
Of late, Bryant has become obsessed with obsessives, and he devours biographies of iconoclasts. Often he’ll divulge some factoid like, “Did you know that Leonardo da Vinci didn’t break onto the art scene until he was 46 years old? Forty-six?!?” Bryant recently cold-called Apple exec Jonathan Ive and Oprah Winfrey, among others, asking for business advice. He is curious in a manner most athletes aren’t. He wants to know how and why things work. Last year he formed Kobe Inc., hiring away creative talents he admired from companies he’d worked with. (Bryant, who got this killer instinct from his strong-willed mother, hired Andrea Fairchild, formerly of Gator-ade, as his CEO.) Among those Bryant -idolizes—Steve Jobs and Bruce Lee, for -instance—there is often a common theme. They are outsiders. They buck the system. Succeed against the odds. In their lives Bryant sees not just road maps but validation.
Earlier this year Bryant heard a story about Michael Jackson, one of his idols. It was about how, before Thriller came out, Jackson was obsessed with the Bee Gees, and in particular their Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, which then was the best-selling album of all time. Determined to eclipse the Bee Gees, Jackson began listening to Saturday Night Fever over and over. Such was his obsession that for two years straight, Jackson told friends, he listened to the album 10 times a day, until he knew every note, every beat. Until he’d internalized it, deciphered its magic and taken it for his own. A year later Thriller came out. It went on to sell more than 60 million copies and become the best-selling album of all time.
When Bryant first heard this anecdote, he was ecstatic. “I f------ love that story,” Bryant said. Here, crystallized, was everything Bryant held dear: the value of work ethic and passion and obsessive quests, all doused in mythology. Did Jackson actually listen to Saturday Night Fever 10 times a day, or was it more like five? Did he do it for two years, or two months? These were not questions Bryant asked. Better to build up a myth than tear it down.
The man who told Bryant that story about Michael Jackson was 39-year-old director -Gotham Chopra. The son of New Age guru Deepak Chopra, Gotham grew up amid his own surreal media bubble: on TV as a boy, shot by paparazzi as a teen, published author while still in college. His childhood was as surreal as Bryant’s, if in a different way.
Kobe and Gotham met two years ago, through a mutual friend, and first bonded over comic books. Bryant was interested in documenting his comeback from an Achilles injury. Gotham, a personable man with big brown eyes—and a die-hard Celtics fan, something which Kobe loves to needle him about—signed on, even though the project was nebulous. “Hey, if Kobe wants you to film, you film,” he says.
Then Kobe’s knee buckled, and the movie had to become about something else. So it became about Kobe’s -inspiration—his “muses” as Bryant calls them. Gotham has now spent roughly 70 days with Bryant over the course of more than a year. He has reams and reams of footage, and a team of young, bearded, energetic twenty-somethings sifting through footage day and night back at a second-floor apartment office in Santa Monica that feels more like a tech start-up.
The movie is supposed to air on Showtime in early November, right after Kobe’s return. Gotham says he’s about 95 percent done filming and desperately needs to be in the editing room. But Kobe said, ‘Come to Shanghai,’ so Gotham came. This is how a lot of the filming has gone. Gotham will get a text at 5 A.M. “Meet me in Newport Beach at 6 A.M.” So Gotham grabs his crew and speeds toward the coast, no idea what he is about to film. Sometimes he receives a text halfway there from Kobe’s persoanl assistant, Ashley, telling him that the unspecified event is now a no-go.
Like any auteur, Chopra wants to make a revealing film. Which means he is in a difficult position. A lifetime spent in front of cameras—a lifetime of creating personas and reinforcing them, of burnishing his own mythology, just as Michael Jackson once did—makes it hard for Kobe to let down his guard, even when he tries. At one point I ask Bryant why he has yet to sign on for a ghost-written autobiography. He says he’s thought about it. That he’s read Andre Agassi’s book and admires it. But if he did it, Bryant says, he’d want to actually write the book himself. Even so, he says, “I’m not ready yet. Writing carries such a level of transparency. I think if you’re going to write a book, you have to be ready to be completely transparent about everything that’s taken place. And I’m not at that place yet.”
Bryant’s focus at this point in his life and career is on efficiency. He knows what he needs to do to return to the level of play that expects for himself and for his team. He is also keenly aware of the importance of finding a purpose for his life beyond basketball.
For now Bryant often speaks in parables, all of which have roughly the same moral: Never give up, and if you work hard, you will succeed. In interviews and at basketball camps and in speeches, again and again, he tells the same stories: about that summer in Philly where, as a wiry kid, he failed to score during the entirety of the Sonny Hill summer league. (“Zero points!”)And the one about how at four years old he was forced to fight an older, better kid at karate and got his ass kicked only to realize he’d survived and was now stronger for it. Such are his charisma and social skills—dramatizing big moments, enunciating key words—that he makes each story feel new and insightful, the way a skilled politician can. “Somebody told me, When you go to China, you’ll see people really- respond to his teachings,” Chopra says with a laugh. “Kobe has teachings?”
“But Boozer does this, Jordan Hill does that, Lin adds that,” Bryant says of his Lakers teammates. “If we can figure out that puzzle, we’re going to shock a lot of people.”
The Kobe Way can be applied to any endeavor. When he spoke recently with one of his various Kobe Inc. partners, a moment caught by Gotham on film, Bryant groused about “this thing where we seem to be O.K. for kids to receive medals for fourth place.?.?.?. It’s bull----.” Instead Kobe wants to use his company to foster, as he calls it, “the spirit of competition.” At home, Bryant drills his eight-year old daughter on winning, only he calls it “competing.” The lesson remains the same: Sometimes you lose, but when you do, it just reminds you of how much you like to win. Says Chopra, “Sometimes I tell Kobe, You’ve obviously been successful. Whatever you’ve done seems to have worked. But this losing/winning mentality you have, where everything is a competition? In basketball, yes. Maybe even in business, yes. But parenting, not so much. Relationships? There’s compromise. At least that’s my experience. But, you know, he kind of hasn’t had to till now.” (At one point Gotham introduced his seven-year-old son to Kobe. Afterward, Bryant turned to Gotham and said, “I’m thinking of creating one of those,” as if a son were a product.)
At this point, Bryant has institutionalized his mentality. Again and again over the week, he repeats his mantras, telling the Chinese kids to “be strong” and “learn from failure” and “never stop working to get better.” Here is the thing: Bryant encourages these kids to grow from weakness, but he never shows any himself. You know how Kobe deals with a torn Achilles? He tries to pull the damn thing up, then stays in the game to take, and make, two free throws. Aging? Kobe has publicly scoffed at the notion that Father Time is undefeated. Armed with a roster of Lins and Boozers, Kobe says he’s thinking championship. And he really does buy into this stuff. “First of all, I’m sure he believes they can make the playoffs,” says one GM. “And second of all, I’m sure he believes it will be on his shoulders. That’s what makes him Kobe. That unnatural confidence.”
Call it the blending of the guards. Bryant’s chemistry in the backcourt with former opponent Lin (17) will help decide just how far the Lakers go in 2014-15.
Now it’s day three of Bryant’s visit, and he’s back at the House of Mamba, filming. The online reality show is the brainchild of Nike, though it is full of Kobe’s input, of course. Everything you see involving Kobe includes his input; hence his line of shoes named after people he admires, including the Bruce Lee, the Beethoven and the Thriller.
The TV show is essentially one long, overt Nike advertisement, part of a concentrated effort by both athletic companies and the NBA to make China the next frontier for basketball. (The league is building a 130,000-square-foot structure in Beijing and commissioner Adam Silver recently said he sees the country as a key to the NBA’s continued growth. In Nike’s case the company solicited 30?second video clips from teenagers across China, then chose the most interesting. During week one LeBron James came through and narrowed the field down to 30. Now Kobe will narrow that field to 10. Despite the star power and relevancy of James, -Attila says there is no comparison when it comes to popularity. He has spent nearly a decade on Asian security detail for NBA stars and watched over LeBron just the week before. “You can tell one is trying to get where the other is,” Attila says. Asked if he means there are more fans for Kobe, he nods. “Lots more.”
On this afternoon Kobe tutors the players on specific skills. He is exacting but patient, showing a chubby, big-eared kid how to shoot a fadeaway from the right post, a shot that this kid should probably not even consider taking until he’s mastered more rudimentary moves. Still, Kobe sticks with him as he flubs shot after shot. “Fake left, shoot it over your right shoulder,” Bryant says. “Don’t use the dribble.” The kid tries again and makes the shot. Kobe is happy. He is clearly a good teacher. Though he says he has no interest in coaching, he would be a good one. If he had the patience for it.
It’s interesting that he equates joy with hard work, as if it must be earned. In Kobe’s world, anything that comes easy is, by its very nature, not worth treasuring.
The Chinese teenagers, chosen by Nike as much for their backstories as their skill, need plenty of help. A handful might qualify as D-III players in the U.S. Many wouldn’t make a high school JV squad. There are no Yao Ming–esque giants. Most hew closer to the Jeremy Lin model: quick on the dribble, attack the basket, suspect jumper, pass-second.
This last element becomes magnified when Kobe is watching. Over the course of the week the contestants rotate through half-court five-on-five games. When Bryant is near, whichever kid has the ball invariably backs up and waves away his teammates, then goes one-on-five and attempts a crazy finish. Doing his best to be diplomatic, Bryant offers encouragement. “That’s some good D!” he says.
Ostensibly, the hysterical fans who arrive during the week are there to cheer on the reality show, but they couldn’t care less about these teenagers. Rather,they wait for Bryant to turn in their direction, at which point they raise their banners and their light-up MVP signs and scream their throats out. Every minute or so they break into spontaneous KOH-BEE! chants. For two hours. It looks exhausting.
In the U.S., or many other places, there would be an acknowledgement of the show’s naked marketing, an eye-rolling, snark-soliciting acquiescence by those on hand. Not here. Here they eat it up. Jake Bloch, Gotham’s 25?year-old producer, who happens to be half Chinese, refers to it as China’s “preironic” mind-set. When Kobe signs basketballs at the end of one taping and throws them to the crowd, scrums break out as dozens of teens grapple and fall and tear at the leather. It is disturbing. Like Lord of the Flies. At one point during the taping of the show, a girl plays the trumpet for Kobe, one-handed, while dribbling a basketball, and the song is Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” the romantic ballad from Titanic.
Amid everything else, it seems totally normal.
Why does China love Kobe? Why does Kobe love China? The answer on both fronts might be that it’s uncomplicated. In an autocratic country, the very idea of Bryant may be liberating. He represents the best of the West, Easternized: the validation of work ethic as the path to success. If he so chose, after his retirement in the NBA, Bryant could easily spend his golden years holding clinics in China. Like David Hasselhoff in Germany, only taller and less cheesy.
As for Kobe, here in China he really is, as the sign reads, forever young. Here the local media dotes. The fans not only adore him but arrive with no expectations beyond glimpsing the icon. Hang around a Lakers’ road hotel in the U.S., and you’ll see groupies and autograph hounds awaiting the bus, and if the players don’t acknowledge them, angry 40-year-old men will berate them. In Shanghai, I saw one group of nearly a dozen teenagers outside the Shangri-La hotel at 10 in the morning one day; at 11:30 p.m. they were still there, waiting, hopeful, asking any Westerner who entered if they knew when Kobe might return. They carried a succession of handwritten placards, in English, that, one holding each, read kobe can we take photo with u [heart sign]?
The fan reaction to Kobe in China is different than it is in the U.S. In Shanghai, these admirers showered him with unconditional love.
This kind of unconditional love is rare. Growing up, Kobe received it, like most kids, from his parents. Now he gets it from 17-year-old Chinese kids.
Kobe’s relationship with his father is complicated. Joe Bryant was a good NBA player and an exceptional international one, a power forward who played with panache. But Kobe sees little of his father in himself. “We couldn’t be more opposite, frankly,” he says. Told that it seems he has taken more joy in the game of late, as Jellybean once did, Kobe thinks for a moment, then nods. “It’s interesting, and you’re right—my dad just exuded joy for the game,” Kobe says. “But I would say I love the game even more, because I love the game so much I did it every day, nonstop for hours and hours and hours and hours. I just f------ love it, man. So watching me play, I want to compete and play as hard as I can because this is what I f------ love doing.”
While Kobe says that he and his father, Joe (Jellybean) Bryant, “couldn’t be more opposite,” the son has lately been showing the sort of joy in the game for which his father was so well known.
It’s interesting that he equates joy with hard work, as if it must be earned. In Kobe’s world, anything that comes easy is, by its very nature, not worth treasuring. He sees his role on the Lakers in the final third of his career as, in essence, a------ in chief. “You can’t afford to placate people,” he explains, his voice rising. “You can’t afford to do that. You’re a leader. You’re not here to be a social butterfly. You’re here to get them to the promised land. A lot of people shy away from that because a lot of people want to be liked by every-body. I want to be liked too. But I know that years from now they’ll appreciate how I pushed them to get us to that end result.”
Bryant sits back, letting the thoughts sit in the air for a moment. Then he continues. “It’s never easy, man. This s--- is hard. So when players look in the distance and see us winning championships and see us celebrating and having a good time, they think, ‘Oh, this is what leadership is, this is how you win, everyone gets along, we’re all buddy-buddy, we all hang out, blah, blah.’?”
Talk to him now about solitude and he acknowledges the role it’s played in his life. “Being alone, you can’t hide, man, you can’t fool yourself,” he says.
Bryant shifts in his seat, leans forward. “No it’s not like that. You talk to Lamar [Odom], Adam Morrison. We were at each other’s throats every day. Challenging each other, confronting each other. That’s how it gets done. But that’s hard, because it’s uncomfortable, right? It’s uncomfortable.”
This approach—Bryant likens it to the unpleasant task of telling a teammate he has “s--- in his teeth”—does not go over well all the time. Like with Dwight Howard, for example. Others appreciate it. During filming, Chopra interviewed a number of Bryant’s teammates, current and former, and he asked them to describe Bryant in three words. After each interview Kobe would text Chopra, eager to hear what people said. Most answered with some variation of “the ultimate competitor” or “killer instinct.” But when Chopra asked Steve Nash, he said something different. After thinking for a moment, Nash answered, slowly, in three beats: “Mother .?.?. f------ .?.?. a------.”
Kobe thought this was awesome.
It’s easy to forget just how much Bryant has changed during his career. He evolved from a brash kid with a baby fro and a killer Michael Jordan impression to a star who won titles with Shaq—even if he was ill-suited to the sidekick role the big man relegated him to. Then came the rape case—ultimately- dropped—in Eagle, Colo. All the sponsors fled except Nike, which he’d signed with only a week earlier. Kobe turned inward, became the pure competitor he was destined to be. For roughly the next five years we saw the Mercenary Kobe, and it was glorious. He berated teammates, demeaned opponents, scored 81 points because he could. Finally, in 2009, he won a title on his own terms. The burden lifted. And yet, the image that sticks out from covering that championship is of Bryant, at 3 a.m. after the clincher, sitting in a hotel lobby with a Corona, among friends but yet still alone, staring off into the distance.
Some people are forced into isolation. Kobe seeks it. He refers to himself as “just a kid from Italy.” He speaks with pride of growing up in his backyard, shooting imaginary jumpers, forging his confidence in one-on-none situations. Talk to him now about solitude, and he acknowledges the role it’s played in his life. “Being alone, you can’t hide, man, you can’t fool yourself,” he says.
So Kobe found his drive in being different, in being alone. That’s why he studies the iconoclasts. It’s why he’s close to so few people in the NBA. And it’s why, while some like Phil Jackson think he will prosper upon leaving the game, others aren’t so sure. “You know how it’s been hard for Jordan in retirement?” says one GM. “It’s going to be way worse to be Kobe. He has fewer friends and the same competitive drive. At least MJ likes to golf and play cards.”
Bryant’s career has been marked by transformation. He began as the precocious heir to MJ, then won titles as the uneasy sidekick to Shaquille O’Neal, weathered a reputation-damaging trial for sexual assault (the charges eventually dropped) and finally emerged in 2009 as a champion again, this time on his own.
Now it’s Sunday afternoon, Kobe’s fifth full day in Shanghai, and he’s burned out. It’s been a long week of glad-handing, photo shoots, design summits, late-night dinners and court christenings. Slowly, Bryant lowers himself onto a couch in the VVIP room, his legs sore from a morning workout. Asked how he processes all this—the adulation, the fans, the statues of him—he looks surprised. Statues? He hadn’t noticed them, he claims. It’s been too crazy. (Later, on the ride home, he will turn to the crew and ask if they saw the statues. Heads will nod. “What do you think of them?” Bryant will ask. “They’re cool,” Nico will assure him. “Yeah, they’re cool,” Bryant will say, then pause. “Right?”)
All week Kobe has been trying hard. Playing a role. At one event after another he fixes his face into an awkward perma-grin, as he turns and acknowledges one screaming fan section after another. He raises his hands in twin V’s. During the player talent evaluations, he is dead set on being a positive influence. In keeping with the spirit of Kobe being a Force for Good, he insists on playing the role of a “mentor,” rather than a Simon Cowell figure. So when it’s time to cut players, Kobe chooses the ones who move on, rather than singling out those who won’t. His commentary as he watches the kids bungle layups and go one-on-four is forcedly diplomatic. “It’s going on right now.” .?.?. “Oooh, had a good look”
He can only contain himself for so long, though. Which brings us back to the one-on-one game against the Chinese teen, back on Wednesday night, tk nights earlier, the one that went viral. The title of the video when it showed up on sports blogs was along the lines of Kobe destroys Chinese fans at one-on-one! It showed Bryant draining deep threes against a lanky kid, and it all fit in perfectly with the Kobe narrative. The Mamba Mythology.
Though rusty at first on the court with the young Chinese students, Bryant settled into his game and in the end gave the players and the fans their chance to see him up close.
Only that’s not what happened. What actually transpired was that Bryant became increasingly geeked as the night went on, watching all these kids chuck up jumpers. First he began dribbling a ball between his legs. Then he bit his lip. Then, when the show was supposed to be wrapping up, he grabbed the mike from the emcee. “They probably haven’t seen me play in a while, so we’ll do a little one-on-one game,” Kobe said, and this was true because no one had seen him play in over a year. Not Gotham. Not his handlers. “We used to call the game ‘sunrise’ in Philly,” Bryant continued. “Whoever scores stays on.”
The two emcees were surprised but went with it as Kobe extricated himself from his headset and took some practice shots. Then Bryant handpicked the three best opponents among the 30 campers and they began a rotating game of one-on-one, winner stays on, to five buckets. The crowd, as you can imagine, went bonkers. At first Kobe looked rusty. Really rusty. His jumpers hit the front iron. He threw up an air ball. He ended up backing down the kids and shooting five-foot jump hooks. It looked as if maybe his comeback was not as far along as advertised. Then, slowly, Bryant came alive. He sunk deep into a stance on D, he chased down long rebounds, pivoted and fired up high-arcing baseline fadeaways. Against a particularly -frenetic guard, he backed him down, then dribbled around the kid’s back and spun to score, sending the crowd and emcees into spasms of joy. This is what they came to see. As Kobe will explain later, “They want to know what it’s like to actually see it, up close. To have that experience.”
There was only one problem with the narrative: Kobe lost. This is the part you don’t see on the viral videos. He thought he had the game in hand, with four points tallied in a game to five. Then the tallest of the Chinese kids, wearing a number 10 jersey, sank an impressive 17-foot fadeaway bank shot on Kobe to score his third point. After which number 10 proceeded to score on the other two kids while Kobe watched helplessly from the sidelines. Ballgame. Some random Chinese kid just beat Kobe in a one-on-one contest.
This was personal. So the campers cleared the floor for a showdown between one of the five greatest players in NBA history and a kid from Who-Knows-Where, China.
Clearly, this could not stand. While the kid raised his arms in celebration, Kobe gave him exactly three courtesy claps before grabbing the mike again. He was no longer smiling, no longer jovial. “O.K., we’re going to play again,” Kobe announced. “First to five and we’ll play like I did growing up. Full court.” The two emcees looked both surprised and concerned. “Are you sure?” one asked. On the sideline Team Kobe stood up. Full court on a reconstructed knee? When Kobe hadn’t played competitively in almost a year? You could just see the headlines: kobe reinjures knee while taping bizarre chinese game show.
There was no dissuading Kobe, though. Similarly, there was no discussion about the other two kids from the previous game. They were shooed off the court. This was personal. So the campers cleared the floor for a showdown between one of the five greatest players in NBA history and a kid from Who-Knows-Where, China. Again Kobe started slow, missing his shot for outs, but it was clear that there was no way he was losing this time. At one point he blocked the kid’s shot out-of-bounds and, without pausing—and without regard for the rules—took possession himself. Then it happened. He nailed a 23-footer. Running back down the court, he started moving his shoulders. Feeling it. Then a 22-footer. Now Kobe was firing the finger guns, and licking his fingertips. A 26-footer followed and the place erupted. Then a 30-footer. Sure the lanky kid answered with a layup, and answered again with a three, but Kobe wasn’t really guarding him and it didn’t matter anyway. We all knew what was coming. And so on game point Bryant pivoted and pivoted again just above the free throw line and then faded that Kobe fade and unleashed that gooseneck follow-through and the ball splashed in and the crowd went berserk and the watching players pumped their fists while Kobe stood, arms outstretched as if he’d just won his sixth ring and not an informal game of one-on-one in Shanghai. Afterward, in true Kobe fashion, he took the mike and explained to the kid that he needed to work on his left hand, making sure the emcees translated it correctly.
It made for great theater. All week Kobe tried to be supportive, to be the good cop. But only on this night did he truly communicate, giving them what they came for, something they could actually learn from. He could have showed up, done the grip-and-grin, and headed back to the hotel. Instead he went nearly an hour over the allotted taping time and ended up at midcourt, arms around four different players, in a sweat-soaked shirt and—since he’d given away his shoes—floppy white socks.
Here was the truth behind the Mamba Mythology. The message behind the message. That in reality it’s never easy. That sometimes you gotta challenge some punk teenager to a double-or-nothing game. And then you have to elbow him in the post, and cheat on the out-of-bounds play, and impose your will on the poor sap, because when it comes down to it, sometimes that’s what it takes to win, son.
His 19th season awaits him, and Bryant appears determined to will himself and his team to a level beyond what reasonably could be expected. Beyond that, the NBA’s most fearsome competitor faces new challenges with the same fierce spirit.
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