Kobe talked to HBO Real Sports and told this interesting story about him and Michael Jackson.
During his second year in the NBA, Kobe Bryant got a phone call that cemented his ruthless approach to the game of basketball.
KOBE BRYANT: “Gold’s Gym in ’98. Liftin’ weights and I get a phone call and it’s Michael Jackson on the other line. And kinda, ‘What the hell is going on?’ Somebody’s playing a practical joke.
ANDREA KREMER: “Michael Jackson calling you at the age of 18?”
KOBE BRYANT: “Age of 18. He’s a big basketball fan. I was starting to get flack for being an introvert and being so serious all the time about the game. And he wanted to call and give me encouragement and say, ‘Don’t change for them. You have to stay focused. If you wanna be one of the all-time greats you have to study the all-time greats. You have to be obsessive about what you do and how you do it.’ And the summertime, I would just disappear. I’d be studying, I’d be researching, I’d be figuring out a way.”
ANDREA KREMER: “Studying, researching—what?”
KOBE BRYANT: “The game. Chicago won another championship. How? Why? How do we get to that level?”
Full interview airs live on HBO tonight at 10pm EST.