Kobe Bryant valued hard effort above all else. It was disclosed by former Lakers teammate Jim Jackson that one did not have to be an All-Star to gain the Black Mamba’s admiration. Jackson talked about his time with the Lakers when he appeared on “The Mark Jackson Show.” He revealed the formula for gaining Kobe’s respect during the talk. He said :
“I didn’t have anywhere near the career that he would establish or a lot of other players. But I did think he respected me because we always competed when we were on the court… You didn’t have to be a Larry, Bird, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal for him to respect you,”
Jackson was a fantastic player in his heyday even though he was never an All-Star in his career. He averaged 25.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in his third campaign. But by the time he arrived with the Lakers, his career was coming to an end.
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He had only played 13 games and was 35 years old. Jackson revealed that he was able to get Kobe’s respect despite not being the same player he once was by being a hard competitor. It was obvious that Kobe expected his teammates to give it their all. The Black Mamba wasn’t afraid to criticize his younger teammates during his ladder years because they tended to play more for their talent than for their abilities.
The disconnection between him and Shaq stemmed from having the same mindset in the early 2000s. Kobe believed that Shaq wasn’t putting in enough effort, which was obviously the reason the team wasn’t as successful as they could have been.
