There was nothing like the work ethic of Kobe Bryant. Few people could keep up with his dangerously intense and demanding workouts. After working with Kobe for a session, a former Lakers DJ soon understood that what he was going through was abnormal.
Kid Jay, Byron Scott’s co-host on the “Fast Break” podcast, shared a story about a time he joined Kobe during a workout with the former Lakers great. The incident would alter his opinion of the superstar right away.
Kid Jay stated: “He invited me to a workout. He says, ‘Jay we’re going to be here at 4 AM.’ This was Orange County one summer. We worked out on just one area and it was just midsection. I don’t think I walked for two-three days. I never worked out with him after that,”
Jay was not allowed to work out with Kobe because of their talent differences, which would have prevented Jay from keeping up. Rather, Jay received an invitation to a weightlifting session where no punches were pulled. It was one thing to see and hear about Kobe’s everyday demonstration of his work ethic. Nevertheless, seeing it with his own eyes opened Jay’s eyes and made him see why Kobe was as good as he was.
Kobe Bryant in action for the lakers
Furthermore, Scott provided a firsthand narrative corroborating Kobe’s extraordinary work ethic. Scott stated: “Kobe never worked out just once a day… His method was scientific. He was like, ‘B, if I work out three times a day, and all these other guys who are so-called great players work out just for practice, that one time. Over a five-year period they can’t catch me.”
As a result, Kobe served as an inspiration to many players who wanted to improve as athletes. Like Jay, some of his teammates were unable to keep up with him due to his intense and strong work ethic. Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal got into a heated argument because Bryant thought the dominating big man wasn’t giving it his all.
In an interview with Patrick Bet-David, Bryant has gone on record to talk about how great Shaq would have been if he had his work ethic. Kobe stated:
“[Shaq] would be the greatest of all time. I wish he was in the gym, I would have had f*****g 12 rings.”
Not even Shaq, the greatest player of all time, could perform as well as Kobe. This serves as more evidence of how exceptional Kobe’s work ethic really was.
