Anytime you have a legend who is willing to reach out and help you reach your potential you should be thankful for the opportunity. Buddy Hield is experiencing this first hand from one of the greatest players to ever step on the hardwood. The New Orleans Pelicans guard broke down some of the stories he heard about Kobe, and what an actual workout session is like with the future Hall of Fame guard via The Players Tribune.
“I remember hearing this story about Kobe a few years ago the U.S. basketball team was in Vegas and on a day off Kobe rented a bicycle and went for a 40-mile bike ride through the desert. In July. All by himself. With anyone else you would say nah thats made up, but with Kobe you’ve got to at least consider that it could be true.”
“Then there’s the story that whenever the Lakers signed a new player Kobe would make him play him one-on-one in front of everyone just to show the new guy who was the boss. I also heard that in high school Kobe used to make the bench guys o the team play him to 100.”
Buddy also went on to discuss the text message that he got from Kobe the night of the draft that he still remembers to this day.
“First he said what’s up? and then said congratulations. But the last thing he wrote me is what I still think about. It doesn’t matter where you go it matters more what you do when you get there. Just go there and work. Soon after the Pelicans picked me at No. 6.”
A month later he received a text from a mutual friend who set up a workout for him with Kobe, and the young guard broke down what it was like to get a lesson from one of the best.
“I tried to observe everything Kobe during the workout. I didn’t know if I’d have another chance like this again and I wanted to impress him. He doesn’t joke around in between drills or talk about non basketball stuff. It’s all basketball. During our two-hour workout we never left one half of the court. Kobe had me copying specific moves he was doing and then repeating them over and over until I got bored of doing them.
One move started in the high post. Kobe pump faked at the free throw line and reverse- pivoted into the lane for a floater. He made me do that one move maybe 100 times in a row while he watched. At 8 a.m. Kobe had a meeting to go to. My arms were like noodles I was drenched in sweat we both were. Two hours in the gym and a good day’s work.”
Even though the season has not gone the way he would have hoped for so far it can only get better for the Buddy. The work that he put in and the things that he learned from Kobe will benefit him in the long run if he continues to put in the work.
