Kobe Bryant’s LAST GREAT INTERVIEW On The MAMBA MENTALITY (With “LOST” Never Before Seen Footage!)

1. 0:00 – 0:15

   Greatness as a chain reaction: inspiring the person next to you

   1. KBKobe Bryant0:00

      To inspire the people next to you. I think that's what greatness is or should be. It's not something that lives and dies with one person. It's how can you inspire a person to then in turn inspire another person, that then inspires another person. And that's how you create something that I think lasts forever.

2. 0:15 – 1:20

   Stage introduction and early life lessons: confidence to fail, team spirit, and story

   1. SPSpeaker0:15

      At 6'6", 212 pounds from Lower Merion High School, he has given us some great memories over the years. How about a big round of applause for, right now on the floor, number 24, the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant. [cheering]

   2. KBKobe Bryant0:35

      My father just gave me a hug and said, "Listen, whether you score zero or score 60, I'm gonna love you no matter what." Now, that is the most important thing that you can say to a child. Because from there I was like, "Okay, that gives me all the confidence in the world to fail." There's a quote from one of my English teachers at Lower Merion named Mr. Fisk, "Rest at the end, not in the middle." And that's something I always live by. When you're in this culture, in our society, you can do some phenomenal things individually, but they'll never reach their full potential unless you do them collectively. The spirit of your team must be good because at that moment is when teams fracture. And if the energy amongst each other isn't there, that trust isn't there, you're done. Nothing in this world moves without story.

   3. LHLewis Howes1:14

      Mm-hmm.

   4. KBKobe Bryant1:15

      And if we're gonna try to make the world a better place, story's the right place to start.

3. 1:20 – 1:40

   Family, joy, and love as perseverance through storms

   1. LHLewis Howes1:20

      Yes, sir. What brings you the most joy right now?

   2. KBKobe Bryant1:22

      Being with my family. What does love feel like? I think I'd describe it as a beautiful journey. You know, it has its ups and downs. Things are never perfect. But through love, you continue to persevere, and then through that storm, beautiful sun emerges.

4. 1:40 – 3:03

   Lewis sets the stage: last interview framing and “never-before-seen” bonus footage

   1. LHLewis Howes1:40

      I'm so excited for you to watch and experience one of Kobe Bryant's last interviews. For me, it was so inspiring to connect with him and hear about his stories about love, life, basketball, relationships, and what it means to leave a legacy, and his definition of greatness. Also, we have five minutes of exclusive bonus footage that has never been released that I'm going to share with you at the end of this interview, and also share with you my whole experience of meeting Kobe and the lessons I learned. I'm so excited for you to watch this interview and to see the bonus content at the end. It's content that we found recently that we are now releasing with this interview. Again, stay tuned to the end, and I hope you enjoy one of the great interviews of Kobe Bryant. Welcome everyone to the School of Greatness Podcast. We have the incredible, legendary Kobe Bryant. My man, it's good to meet you.

   2. KBKobe Bryant2:40

      Pleasure, man.

   3. LHLewis Howes2:41

      Um, congrats on everything. You're an icon, a legend, and the thing I love the most about you is that you really care about other human beings.

   4. KBKobe Bryant2:49

      Yeah.

   5. LHLewis Howes2:49

      Your heart is so big. Even though you've been known for this focused mentality that is just almost psycho in some ways.

   6. KBKobe Bryant2:56

      Yeah. [laughs]

   7. LHLewis Howes2:57

      But you care deeply about human beings, and I think that's why so many people love you as well. So I wanna acknowledge you for your kindness-

   8. KBKobe Bryant3:03

      Yeah

5. 3:03 – 3:54

   Early teachers and the foundation: imagination, curiosity, and work

   1. LHLewis Howes3:03

      ... and your generosity towards humanity. Um, my first question for you is, I'm curious about who was your greatest teacher growing up? 'Cause you had an in- uh, an interesting childhood, being in Italy-

   2. KBKobe Bryant3:15

      Yeah

   3. LHLewis Howes3:15

      ... for a while, coming back to Philadelphia, I think it was.

   4. KBKobe Bryant3:18

      Yeah.

   5. LHLewis Howes3:18

      Who was the greatest teacher for you in those early days?

   6. KBKobe Bryant3:21

      It's funny, man. I, I had a lot of them. You know, my parents were, were great. You know, growing up, you know, they instilled in me the importance of imagination, of curiosity, and understanding that, okay, if you wanna accomplish something, uh, y- I'm not just gonna sit here and say, "Yes, you can do whatever you want."

   7. LHLewis Howes3:37

      Mm-hmm.

   8. KBKobe Bryant3:38

      Yes, you can, but you have to also put in the work to get there, right? So they taught me that at a really early age, man. And, uh, when you grow up as a kid thinking that the world is your oyster and all things are possible if you put in the work to do it, you know, you grow up having that fundamental belief.

6. 3:54 – 6:27

   Zero points all summer: failure, unconditional love, and a long-term plan

   1. LHLewis Howes3:54

      Yeah. Who was more influential for you, your father or mother?

   2. KBKobe Bryant3:58

      It... Both were in- influential at different points.

   3. LHLewis Howes4:01

      Yeah.

   4. KBKobe Bryant4:01

      Right? My, uh, my mom was there on a daily basis. Uh, my father, uh, was really influential at a really critical time where I, I, you know, I had a summer where I played basketball when I was, like, 10 or 11 years old in a very prominent summer league in Philadelphia called the Sunny Hill League, where my father played, my uncle played, and they were, like, all-time greats-

   5. LHLewis Howes4:20

      Yeah

   6. KBKobe Bryant4:20

      ... and stuff. And Wilt Chamberlain played in the league, you know, uh, Earl the Pearl Monroe played in the league. And here I come, playing, and I don't score one point the entire summer.

   7. LHLewis Howes4:31

      Really?

   8. KBKobe Bryant4:32

      Not one.

   9. LHLewis Howes4:32

      How old were you?

   10. KBKobe Bryant4:33

       11. 10, 11.

   11. LHLewis Howes4:35

       And you're playing against other 10, 11-year-olds?

   12. KBKobe Bryant4:36

       Uh-huh.

   13. LHLewis Howes4:37

       And you didn't score once?

   14. KBKobe Bryant4:37

       Not once.

   15. LHLewis Howes4:38

       Were you in the game?

   16. KBKobe Bryant4:39

       I was in the game.

   17. LHLewis Howes4:40

       How'd you not score?

   18. KBKobe Bryant4:40

       'Cause I was terrible.

   19. LHLewis Howes4:42

       Really?

   20. KBKobe Bryant4:42

       Yeah. [laughs] That happened.

   21. LHLewis Howes4:44

       At 10, 11 years old you were that terrible.

   22. KBKobe Bryant4:45

       Awful. I mean, I... You know, and I had these big knee pads on-

   23. LHLewis Howes4:48

       No. [laughs]

   24. KBKobe Bryant4:48

       ... 'cause I was growing really fast, and I had socks all the way up here, and I had, like, the high top fades.

   25. LHLewis Howes4:53

       Skinny. Yeah.

   26. KBKobe Bryant4:54

       Like, skinny as hell. And I scored not a free throw, not a... Nothing. Not a lucky shot, not a breakaway layup. Zero points. And I remember crying about it and being upset about it, and my father just gave me a hug and said, "Listen, whether you score zero or score 60, I'm gonna love you no matter what."

   27. LHLewis Howes5:11

       Wow.

   28. KBKobe Bryant5:11

       Now, that is the most important thing that you can say to a child. Because from there-

   29. LHLewis Howes5:16

       Wow

   30. KBKobe Bryant5:16

       ... I was like, "Okay, that gives me all the confidence in the world to fail, right? I have the security there." But to hell with that, I'm scoring 60. [laughs] Let's go.
7. 6:27 – 8:25

   “It’s math”: obsessive daily practice and why fundamentals catch up to athleticism

   1. KBKobe Bryant6:27

      12, 13. Then 14 came around, back half of 13, 14, uh, years old, and then I was just killing everyone. And it happened in two years, and I wasn't expecting it to happen in two years, but it did because what I had to do was work on the basics and the fundamentals while they relied on their athleticism-

   2. LHLewis Howes6:45

      Mm

   3. KBKobe Bryant6:45

      ... and their natural ability. And because I stick to the fundamentals, it just caught up to them. And then my body, you know, my knee stopped hurting. I grew into my frame and...

   4. LHLewis Howes6:55

      And then your athleticism, once you have the fundamentals-

   5. KBKobe Bryant6:58

      Exactly

   6. LHLewis Howes6:58

      ... the hard work, the mindset, and you tack on the atlet- athleticism-

   7. KBKobe Bryant7:02

      Exactly. Then, then-

   8. LHLewis Howes7:02

      ... it's game over

   9. KBKobe Bryant7:03

      ... then, then it was game over. Right. [laughs]

   10. LHLewis Howes7:05

       Wow. So from 13, you're good, average still?

   11. KBKobe Bryant7:09

       I w- I was good. I was good.

   12. LHLewis Howes7:09

       You were good.

   13. KBKobe Bryant7:10

       And then about, about the, like the end of my thir- like right when I was turning 14, I became the best player in the state.

   14. LHLewis Howes7:16

       At 14.

   15. KBKobe Bryant7:17

       At 14.

   16. LHLewis Howes7:17

       So from 12 to 14 you went from scoring zero to being the best in the state-

   17. KBKobe Bryant7:21

       Yep

   18. LHLewis Howes7:21

       ... of all ages.

   19. KBKobe Bryant7:22

       Yep. But it's, it's simple. Like if you do the math on this, right? Like if you, if you thinking about how often kids are playing.

   20. LHLewis Howes7:28

       Mm-hmm.

   21. KBKobe Bryant7:28

       Right? I tell this to my, to my daughter and my daughter's team as well, that I coach. It's a, it's a simple thing of math. If you wanna be a great player, if you play every single day, two to three hours, every single day over a course of a year, how much better are you getting? Most kids will play maybe, you know, a hour and a half two days a week.

   22. LHLewis Howes7:48

       Right.

   23. KBKobe Bryant7:49

       Do the math on that.

   24. LHLewis Howes7:49

       For the sea- for the season or, yeah.

   25. KBKobe Bryant7:50

       It's not, it's not gonna, it's not gonna get it done. [laughs] It's not gonna get it done, right? So if you're obsessiv- obsessive- obsessively training two, three hours every single day over a year, over two years-

   26. LHLewis Howes8:01

       You're gonna accelerate

   27. KBKobe Bryant8:02

       ... you make quantum leaps, man.

   28. LHLewis Howes8:03

       Just doing a summer camp for two weeks you s- you see a difference. I remember playing basketball growing up.

   29. KBKobe Bryant8:07

       You, I mean, you see it.

   30. LHLewis Howes8:08

       It's like you get a lot better.
8. 8:25 – 12:00

   How the “Mamba Mentality” formed: earning an edge and breaking opponents mentally

   1. LHLewis Howes8:25

      But you have this Mamba Mentality. Your book's coming out soon, and how did you develop this? There's a, there's a beautiful story that I love from Jay Williams.

   2. KBKobe Bryant8:32

      Mm-hmm.

   3. LHLewis Howes8:32

      I don't know if you remember Jason Williams.

   4. KBKobe Bryant8:34

      Yeah.

   5. LHLewis Howes8:34

      Where he did an interview a while back and he talked about how when he played you, I think the first time, or one of the first times he played against you, he was, he was like, "I'm gonna show up so early to the court to warm up and practice, like, before anyone."

   6. KBKobe Bryant8:47

      Yeah.

   7. LHLewis Howes8:47

      And he shows up at the court, I don't know if it was in LA or where it was, and you were the only one there.

   8. KBKobe Bryant8:52

      Right.

   9. LHLewis Howes8:52

      Already shooting free throws, already doing your f- fundamentals. And he goes, "I'm gonna stay here until Kobe leaves." And then he was like, gosh, an hour and a half, two hours later-

   10. KBKobe Bryant9:00

       I gotta go. [laughs]

   11. LHLewis Howes9:01

       ... "I'm tired, and Kobe's still shooting free throws, scoring. Like, just going over the fund- fundamentals."

   12. KBKobe Bryant9:06

       Right.

   13. LHLewis Howes9:06

       And he goes, "And then we played that game, and you were lights out." And he came up to you afterwards and said like, "Dude, why were you in there for so long, or how'd you do it?" And you said, this is what he said you said. You said, "I knew you were watching-

   14. KBKobe Bryant9:18

       Right

   15. LHLewis Howes9:18

       ... and I wanted to show you I was willing to outwork you."

   16. KBKobe Bryant9:20

       Right.

   17. LHLewis Howes9:20

       Something along those lines.

   18. KBKobe Bryant9:21

       Yeah, yeah.

   19. LHLewis Howes9:22

       I don't know if you remember this.

   20. KBKobe Bryant9:23

       I remember that.

   21. LHLewis Howes9:23

       You remember, yeah.

   22. KBKobe Bryant9:24

       Oh, yeah.

   23. LHLewis Howes9:24

       And I thought that was so powerful that you have this mindset. But how did you develop that? I don't, and I don't know if that's what you call the Mamba Mindset, but how did you develop that?

   24. KBKobe Bryant9:35

       Well-

   25. LHLewis Howes9:35

       And when did it start?

   26. KBKobe Bryant9:36

       Uh, it, it started in, in middle school and high school. Because a lot of the kids that I was playing against were inner city kids.

   27. LHLewis Howes9:43

       Yeah.

   28. KBKobe Bryant9:44

       And so they're looking at me as if, "Okay, this kid's soft," right? "He's from the suburbs of Philadelphia. His father played in the NBA, played professionally."

   29. LHLewis Howes9:51

       "He's got it easy."

   30. KBKobe Bryant9:52

       "Got it easy. Born on second..." You know, all this other stuff, right?
9. 12:00 – 14:53

   Leading teammates by changing behavior: discipline, motivation triggers, and strategic “buttons”

   1. KBKobe Bryant12:00

      Well, [laughs] that's, that's interesting. Because I, when I, when I played, um, one of the things that I had to learn is how to get the best out of my teammates.

   2. LHLewis Howes12:08

      Yeah.

   3. KBKobe Bryant12:09

      And most people think it's a simple thing. You know, passing the ball You know, but that's not how you make guys better. You have to really affect their behavior.

   4. LHLewis Howes12:17

      How do you do that?

   5. KBKobe Bryant12:18

      So, you know, like, you know, I would tell guys, "You know, we got back to backs. You know, I don't care if we're in Miami and I don't care if we're in the great city of Chicago, we can't go out. We gotta get rest." Right?

   6. LHLewis Howes12:28

      Back to back games.

   7. KBKobe Bryant12:29

      Back to back games.

   8. LHLewis Howes12:29

      Yeah.

   9. KBKobe Bryant12:29

      Right? Monday, Tuesday. You play Monday, and you play again Tuesday. Guys aren't gonna listen, right? You gonna... You know.

   10. LHLewis Howes12:34

       Right.

   11. KBKobe Bryant12:34

       So a, a few times, say, "All right. We'll all go out."

   12. LHLewis Howes12:37

       [laughs]

   13. KBKobe Bryant12:38

       "We'll go out together."

   14. LHLewis Howes12:39

       Really?

   15. KBKobe Bryant12:39

       I'm, I'll drink with you, right? But the next morning, I'm banging on your door at 5:00 in the morning. [claps] "Let's go."

   16. LHLewis Howes12:47

       They're not getting that.

   17. KBKobe Bryant12:47

       "Where are we going?"

   18. LHLewis Howes12:48

       [laughs]

   19. KBKobe Bryant12:49

       "I hung out with you. Now you come hang out with me."

   20. LHLewis Howes12:51

       Wow.

   21. KBKobe Bryant12:51

       "This is what we do. All right? Let's go." And we're at the gym, we're working out, right? We hit the bus, we go to practice, we play that night.

   22. LHLewis Howes12:57

       And they're dead.

   23. KBKobe Bryant12:58

       And they're dead, and they're like, "Lesson learned." [laughs]

   24. LHLewis Howes13:01

       Really?

   25. KBKobe Bryant13:01

       Lesson learned.

   26. LHLewis Howes13:01

       So you take 'em out once.

   27. KBKobe Bryant13:02

       Listen, if you're gonna do that, do that, but don't let that compromise what we're here to do.

   28. LHLewis Howes13:07

       Right.

   29. KBKobe Bryant13:08

       This is why we're here. This is why you're here in the first place.

   30. LHLewis Howes13:10

       Yeah.
10. 14:53 – 17:07

    Phil Jackson’s psychology lesson: when to push, when to pull back for the championship goal

    1. LHLewis Howes14:53

       How important is understanding human psychology and human behavior to work with a team-

    2. KBKobe Bryant14:58

       Yes

    3. LHLewis Howes14:58

       ... as opposed to just relying on your gifts and talents?

    4. KBKobe Bryant15:01

       It's, uh, it's probably the most important thing. You know, when you're in a, in this culture, in our society, you can do some phenomenal things individually. Um, but they'll never reach their full potential unless you do 'em collectively. And you have to figure out how to do that, and you know, Phil Jackson was great at that.

    5. LHLewis Howes15:17

       Mm-hmm.

    6. KBKobe Bryant15:17

       Phil, uh, you know, he wouldn't just coach the team or coach the game, but he'd read everything about every single player.

    7. LHLewis Howes15:25

       Really?

    8. KBKobe Bryant15:25

       He'd learn about your history, how you grew up, um, how you were raised, where were, where were you raised. You know, he'll read every interview.

    9. LHLewis Howes15:33

       Mm.

    10. KBKobe Bryant15:33

        And he'll learn about you, and gives him a better understanding of what's motivating you, uh, or what your insecurities are, right? And then it just helps him communicate with you better or even push a button here if he needs to.

    11. LHLewis Howes15:48

        When did you learn that it was important to understand who your teammates are and what their likes or dislikes are? Was that in high school for you or more-

    12. KBKobe Bryant15:57

        No, it was, uh, I learned it from Phil. There, there was a stretch, um, in '03, uh, where Shaq was out with an injury. And Phil called me up to his office and said, "Okay, we need you to really turn on the afterburners and start scoring the ball-

    13. LHLewis Howes16:11

        Wow

    14. KBKobe Bryant16:11

        ... if we have to win." So I did, and I wind up scoring, I think it was nine straight games of 40-plus points.

    15. LHLewis Howes16:17

        Nine straight?

    16. KBKobe Bryant16:18

        Nine straight games. And then Shaq comes back sec- uh, his second to last game of that, and then Phil calls me up to his office. He says, "Kobe, okay, I need you to dial it back." I'm like-

    17. LHLewis Howes16:30

        Why? [laughs]

    18. KBKobe Bryant16:31

        Like, "We're winning. I, I don't understand." He says, "Because our goal is to win a championship."

    19. LHLewis Howes16:35

        Mm.

    20. KBKobe Bryant16:35

        "And we can get through the Western Conference with you playing this way. But in the East, you know, we, we can dominate them inside with Shaq in the post. But if you continue to do this, we'll lose Shaq. We'll lose him."

    21. LHLewis Howes16:48

        His motivation, his excitement.

    22. KBKobe Bryant16:50

        What triggers him, right? He... So, "I need you to pull back so we can pull Shaq forward for June."

    23. LHLewis Howes16:56

        Wow.

    24. KBKobe Bryant16:57

        And I'm, I just looked at him like, "Man, this is one smart dude." [laughs]

    25. LHLewis Howes17:01

        Wow.

    26. KBKobe Bryant17:02

        Yeah.

    27. LHLewis Howes17:02

        That's really smart.

    28. KBKobe Bryant17:03

        Yeah. He's one smart dude, man. So I pulled, pulled it back.

    29. LHLewis Howes17:06

        Wow.

    30. KBKobe Bryant17:06

        Yeah.

11. 17:07 – 24:08

    After basketball: missing instant feedback, fearing a new mountain, and choosing storytelling

    1. LHLewis Howes17:07

       What do you think what's been, uh, the greatest challenge you've had since leaving the game?

    2. KBKobe Bryant17:13

       The greatest challenge. Um, [sighs] I think it's, I, you know, I mean, it's-

    3. LHLewis Howes17:21

       I mean, you've won an Oscar.

    4. KBKobe Bryant17:22

       [laughs]

    5. LHLewis Howes17:23

       You're, you're launching podcasts and shows.

    6. KBKobe Bryant17:25

       Well-

    7. LHLewis Howes17:25

       And you got a book coming out.

    8. KBKobe Bryant17:27

       Yeah. But it's, it- it- it's, uh, it's different though. Like, you know, um, we were just talking about it here in the office the other day. Um, you know, when you play the game-

    9. LHLewis Howes17:37

       Mm-hmm

    10. KBKobe Bryant17:37

        ... you hit a game-winning shot, you miss a shot, the reaction's there. You can see how people are responding to it, right? You can feel it. And-

    11. LHLewis Howes17:44

        The energy is like-

    12. KBKobe Bryant17:45

        The energy is there. What I do now, you don't. Like, I, I don't see how people are affected by Dear Basketball or, you know, creating The Punies and you put it out there. Like, I wish I could see a car ride of a family the first time their daughter hears Lily's Lemonade and what she's doing, you know, if she's singing along to it. That's not there, right? So that's the, the challenge. That's the, the one thing-

    13. LHLewis Howes18:08

        Mm

    14. KBKobe Bryant18:08

        ... that I miss, is being able to-

    15. LHLewis Howes18:09

        It's the feedback

    16. KBKobe Bryant18:09

        ... feed off of the energy. Yeah.

    17. LHLewis Howes18:10

        The instant feedback-

    18. KBKobe Bryant18:11

        Yeah

    19. LHLewis Howes18:11

        ... that you get from shoot- missing or scoring a shot.

    20. KBKobe Bryant18:14

        Yeah, yeah.

    21. LHLewis Howes18:14

        Winning or losing a game. It's like either way you're getting a, a result, right?

    22. KBKobe Bryant18:17

        Yes, yes. Yes, that's the one thing. And, and when I, I went to, uh... 'Cause I spend a lot of time with mentors as well-

    23. LHLewis Howes18:23

        Uh-huh

    24. KBKobe Bryant18:23

        ... up at Pixar and Disney Studios.

    25. LHLewis Howes18:25

        Wow.

    26. KBKobe Bryant18:25

        They've been absolutely wonderful, animation, Disney Animation. And I've talked to them about Frozen and Moana, and how our kids love them. And they're always like, "Oh, that's awesome." And they, and they wanna hear- Because they don't ever get a chance to-

    27. LHLewis Howes18:36

        [sighs]

    28. KBKobe Bryant18:36

        ... truly see it. Like, they're, they're not, they don't-

    29. LHLewis Howes18:38

        Not sit in the movie theater, like-

    30. KBKobe Bryant18:39

        No, no. And they don't have time to go to Disneyland, and walk around the park, and see how many families are enjoying the content that they've created, because they're busy making the next one.
12. 24:08 – 31:57

    Story, craft, and the discipline of facing reality: losing, film study, and brutal honesty

    1. LHLewis Howes24:08

       What does losing feel like to you?

    2. KBKobe Bryant24:11

       Uh, it's exciting.

    3. LHLewis Howes24:14

       Why is it exciting?

    4. KBKobe Bryant24:15

       Um, because it means you have different, um, ways to get better. There's certain things that you can figure out, that you can take advantage of- Right? Certain weaknesses that were exposed-

    5. LHLewis Howes24:26

       Mm

    6. KBKobe Bryant24:27

       ... um, that you need to shore up, right? So it was exciting. I mean, I mean, it sucks to lose.

    7. LHLewis Howes24:33

       Right.

    8. KBKobe Bryant24:34

       But at the same time, there are answers there if you just look at them. Um-

    9. LHLewis Howes24:39

       'Cause you get the information from losing more than from winning probably.

    10. KBKobe Bryant24:42

        Yeah, yeah. I mean, the answers are there when you win, too. You just, you, you, you just have to look at them.

    11. LHLewis Howes24:46

        Yeah.

    12. KBKobe Bryant24:46

        Right? So it's a constant process, and it's exciting when you win, it's exciting when you lose, 'cause the process should be exactly the same. Whether you win or you lose, is you go back and you look and you find things that you could have done better, you find things that you've done well that worked. You figure out how did they work, why did they work, how can you make them work again.

    13. LHLewis Howes25:03

        Yeah.

    14. KBKobe Bryant25:04

        And, uh, but the hardest thing is to face that stuff. Um, that's a really, really tough challenge.

    15. LHLewis Howes25:09

        You mean, face it, you mean look yourself in the mirror and say, "Okay, this is how I showed up," or, "This is what happened," and, uh-

    16. KBKobe Bryant25:14

        I'll give you an example. So, uh, Katie Lou Samuelson is one of the best college basketball players in the country. She plays at UConn. She's gonna be a senior.

    17. LHLewis Howes25:21

        Right now.

    18. KBKobe Bryant25:22

        Right now.

    19. LHLewis Howes25:22

        Yeah.

    20. KBKobe Bryant25:23

        And, uh, she's from Huntington Beach out here by us, and so she comes down and she works with some of my, my, my girls on the team, and she helps coach.

    21. LHLewis Howes25:30

        Yeah.

    22. KBKobe Bryant25:31

        And, uh, they just had a really tough season last year where they lost to Notre Dame in the final.

    23. LHLewis Howes25:35

        That's right.

    24. KBKobe Bryant25:36

        Really tough.

    25. LHLewis Howes25:36

        First loss in like-

    26. KBKobe Bryant25:37

        First loss

    27. LHLewis Howes25:38

        ... years, right?

    28. KBKobe Bryant25:38

        Yeah. And so I asked her, I said, "Have you watched the Notre Dame game?" She was like, "No." I said, "Well, why not?" She said, "I don't wanna watch that." I said, "I know you don't, but you're gonna play Notre Dame this year, yeah?" "Yeah." "What's the chances you see them again in the final?" She goes, "Well, we'll probably see them again." I said, "Well, you can't show up and play them without knowing why you lost that one." Right? So, you know, y- y- the mistakes that you made in that game, you have to do the hard stuff and watch that game and study that game to not make those mistakes over and over again just because you weren't brave enough to face it. So she came down to the office. I brought her down to the office and we sat down, we watched that game together.

    29. LHLewis Howes26:17

        Wow.

    30. KBKobe Bryant26:17

        Right? You gotta, you gotta deal with it.
13. 31:57 – 36:06

    Evolving as a leader: empathy, pride in the hardest win, and the team’s spirit under pressure

    1. LHLewis Howes31:57

       What... I mean, you were so dominant your whole career, one of the greatest of all time. W- was there a weakness that you had? Or did you... 'Cause obviously you're always trying to master your weaknesses so they became strengths.

    2. KBKobe Bryant32:08

       Yeah.

    3. LHLewis Howes32:08

       But did you, at the end or towards the end, did you ever feel like, "Gosh, I still haven't, like, mastered this one part of the game"?

    4. KBKobe Bryant32:15

       The challenge for me was always, um, compassion and empathy.

    5. LHLewis Howes32:18

       [laughs] 'Cause you're like, "Guys, let's go. Get results. Shut up. Don't complain," right? [laughs]

    6. KBKobe Bryant32:23

       "I don't wanna hear your whining. I don't wanna hear it."

    7. LHLewis Howes32:24

       Right.

    8. KBKobe Bryant32:25

       "Don't tell me-"

    9. LHLewis Howes32:25

       "No excuses."

    10. KBKobe Bryant32:26

        "Don't tell me how rough the water is, just bring the boat in." You know, I, like I don't-

    11. LHLewis Howes32:29

        [laughs]

    12. KBKobe Bryant32:29

        I don't wanna hear it, you know? And it's, uh-

    13. LHLewis Howes32:31

        That's funny

    14. KBKobe Bryant32:32

        ... [laughs] it's understanding, like, okay, these guys have lives- [laughs]

    15. LHLewis Howes32:36

        Right

    16. KBKobe Bryant32:36

        ... outside of here.

    17. LHLewis Howes32:37

        They have other things happening, yeah.

    18. KBKobe Bryant32:37

        Have other things happening to them that may be affecting the way that they're practicing or the way that they're performing, right? And it was hard for me to understand that, 'cause noth- nothing bothered me. You know, anything personally, that never phased me when I played.

    19. LHLewis Howes32:51

        You compartmentalized it.

    20. KBKobe Bryant32:52

        Very well. But so I couldn't understand how my teammates couldn't do that either, uh, until I... You know, so I had to really work on that aspect of it. [laughs]

    21. LHLewis Howes33:01

        That's hard.

    22. KBKobe Bryant33:02

        Yeah, it is. [laughs]

    23. LHLewis Howes33:02

        So com- do you feel like you never a- really had the compassion you wish you would've had, like until the last maybe couple years?

    24. KBKobe Bryant33:08

        Yeah. So I, I think about '09, things started changing for me.

    25. LHLewis Howes33:11

        Okay.

    26. KBKobe Bryant33:12

        I s- I started really, uh, making a conscious effort to better understand. And that doesn't mean, I mean, you have compassion and empathy so you go soft on them. It's more like you, you put, you put yourself to the side, and you put yourself in their shoes and understand what they're feeling. And then you have to make certain decisions of, okay, what buttons do I need to push for this player-

    27. LHLewis Howes33:33

        Yeah

    28. KBKobe Bryant33:33

        ... to get them to the next level?

    29. LHLewis Howes33:34

        Mm-hmm.

    30. KBKobe Bryant33:34

        So it's never... It's not sit around and all, it's all happy-go-lucky type of thing.
14. 36:06 – 39:37

    Training without a season: creating goals, modeling hard work, and family as motivation

    1. LHLewis Howes36:06

       Wow. Gosh, man, I wanna be respectful of your time. I know we've gone-

    2. KBKobe Bryant36:10

       [laughs]

    3. LHLewis Howes36:10

       ... like probably like five to seven minutes left. Um, I saw on Instagram that you were up at like 4:00 AM lifting by yourself-

    4. KBKobe Bryant36:19

       Yeah

    5. LHLewis Howes36:19

       ... in the dark.

    6. KBKobe Bryant36:20

       [laughs]

    7. LHLewis Howes36:21

       And again, you've had an, one of the most incredible careers arguably of all time, uh, you know, made all the money in the world, got a freaking Oscar now.

    8. KBKobe Bryant36:32

       Yeah.

    9. LHLewis Howes36:32

       You've got all these other things happening, and yet you're still waking up, or at least you're in the gym at 4:00 AM working out. And you just turned 40.

    10. KBKobe Bryant36:40

        Yeah.

    11. LHLewis Howes36:40

        Right? Which, congratulations, by the way.

    12. KBKobe Bryant36:42

        Thank you. Thank you.

    13. LHLewis Howes36:42

        I hope, I hope I look as good as you at 40.

    14. KBKobe Bryant36:43

        [laughs]

    15. LHLewis Howes36:44

        Um, why still wake up that early and train at this level in your life right now?

    16. KBKobe Bryant36:52

        Well, I mean, there- there's several factors for that. Like, when I first retired, I let myself go a little bit.

    17. LHLewis Howes36:56

        Really?

    18. KBKobe Bryant36:56

        And-

    19. LHLewis Howes36:56

        You got a little-

    20. KBKobe Bryant36:57

        Oh yeah. Oh yeah

    21. LHLewis Howes36:58

        ... got a little chubby, like ...

    22. KBKobe Bryant36:58

        Oh, it was awesome.

    23. LHLewis Howes36:59

        [laughs]

    24. KBKobe Bryant36:59

        'Cause I was like eating whatever-

    25. LHLewis Howes37:00

        You enjoyed everything

    26. KBKobe Bryant37:01

        ... oh man, I'm eating. What?

    27. LHLewis Howes37:03

        Well, it's well, man.

    28. KBKobe Bryant37:03

        In and out, bring it to me. Let's go.

    29. LHLewis Howes37:04

        [laughs]

    30. KBKobe Bryant37:04

        Steak? Oh, let- let's go, right? Milkshakes?
15. 39:37 – 45:10

    Creating for kids: how The Punies was built and what the “Mamba Mentality” book covers

    1. LHLewis Howes39:37

       Hm. Um, you've got a new podcast out right now called The Punies-

    2. KBKobe Bryant39:41

       Yeah

    3. LHLewis Howes39:41

       ... which I started listening to. I've listened to the first two episodes. It's incredible.

    4. KBKobe Bryant39:45

       [laughs]

    5. LHLewis Howes39:46

       They're like 13 to 15 minute, um, episodic, uh, storytelling, you know, cartoons, I guess-

    6. KBKobe Bryant39:54

       Yes

    7. LHLewis Howes39:54

       ... for kids. And the thing I love about it the most is it's, it's funny, it's entertaining, uh, there's original music, there's all these different characters. You're teaching history, like, in a fun way.

    8. KBKobe Bryant40:07

       Yeah. [laughs]

    9. LHLewis Howes40:08

       Which I like the last one, where it's like, you know, we, we talk about history so we don't repeat it-

    10. KBKobe Bryant40:13

        Right

    11. LHLewis Howes40:13

        ... in our own lives. And then you teach lessons about overcoming failure for kids, and insecurities, and challenges we're facing, and I think it's beautiful. Can you talk about The Punies and the podcast and what it's all about?

    12. KBKobe Bryant40:24

        Yeah. The, so The Punies, um, came to me, uh, from, you know, we have our family tradition where we watch, um, The Sandlot every Fourth of July.

    13. LHLewis Howes40:33

        God, it's the greatest movie, man.

    14. KBKobe Bryant40:34

        It's the greatest. It's the greatest.

    15. LHLewis Howes40:35

        In the summer?

    16. KBKobe Bryant40:35

        Squints saying, "Yeah, yeah."

    17. LHLewis Howes40:36

        Oh my gosh.

    18. KBKobe Bryant40:36

        And all... It's the best day.

    19. LHLewis Howes40:37

        S'mores, baby.

    20. KBKobe Bryant40:38

        Dude, come on.

    21. LHLewis Howes40:38

        Give me s'mores.

    22. KBKobe Bryant40:39

        Right? So, like, that's our family ritual.

    23. LHLewis Howes40:41

        Oh my gosh.

    24. KBKobe Bryant40:41

        Every Fourth of July-

    25. LHLewis Howes40:42

        Sandlot

    26. KBKobe Bryant40:42

        ... Sandlot, right? And so after watching The Sandlot movie I was like, "We need a new sports movie like this," right?

    27. LHLewis Howes40:48

        Yeah.

    28. KBKobe Bryant40:48

        So I started kinda concepting ideas and stuff, but nothing I truly loved. And then, uh, over Thanksgiving, our other ritual is to watch Charlie Brown.

    29. LHLewis Howes40:57

        Uh-huh.

    30. KBKobe Bryant40:57

        Right?
16. 45:10 – 1:08:00

    Final definition of greatness and Lewis’s reflections + restored behind-the-scenes footage

    1. LHLewis Howes45:10

       I love it. Make sure you guys get the book. You can pre-order it right now. Download The Punies. Um, follow you on social media. The final question is, what's your definition of greatness?

    2. KBKobe Bryant45:21

       Um, I, I think the definition of greatness is to inspire the people next to you. Yeah, I, I think that's what greatness is or should be. It, it's, it's not something that's, that, that lives and dies with one person.

    3. LHLewis Howes45:33

       Hmm.

    4. KBKobe Bryant45:34

       It's how can you inspire a person to then in turn inspire another person-

    5. LHLewis Howes45:38

       Yeah

    6. KBKobe Bryant45:38

       ... that then inspires another person, and that's how you create something that I think lasts forever.

    7. LHLewis Howes45:42

       Yeah.

    8. KBKobe Bryant45:43

       And, uh, I think that's our challenge as people, is to, um, is to figure out how our story can impact others-

    9. LHLewis Howes45:50

       Hmm

    10. KBKobe Bryant45:50

        ... and motivate them in a way to create their own greatness.

    11. LHLewis Howes45:53

        Well, I wanna acknowledge you again, man, for the inspiration. You're just a symbol of truth and inspiration to so many people.

    12. KBKobe Bryant45:59

        Oh, thanks, man.

    13. LHLewis Howes46:00

        And, um, I just appreciate you as a human. So, Kobe-

    14. KBKobe Bryant46:02

        Appreciate it, man

    15. LHLewis Howes46:03

        ... thanks, man.

    16. KBKobe Bryant46:03

        Thank you.

    17. LHLewis Howes46:03

        Appreciate you, brother. Thank you so much for watching this interview of Kobe Bryant. Again, he brought such a mentality to the game of basketball, but also he brought so much love to life. And it's so incredible to see the stories, to hear the lessons of people who have been impacted by Kobe Bryant. I only got to meet Kobe once. We messaged a few times on social media, but I didn't know him like most people. However, I got to experience him before and after this interview in a way that I found really inspiring and uplifting. I've done over 1,500 episodes on The School of Greatness, and you meet a lot of different people, people from all walks of life, people who have lots of money, lots of fame and success, and sometimes people don't treat you the same way that Kobe does. And my experience was profound in the way that he was so busy the entire day. He had interview after interview all day, but he wanted to really take the time and ask me questions. What I'm gonna do is share some bonus footage, about five minutes of never-before-seen video of Kobe interacting with me before and after this interview. We were able to restore this video. We were able to get the audio. The audio was never able to be used during the original interview, but with AI, we were able to capture more of the audio, and that's why I wanted to share it with you today in this video. Now, before I share this bonus content, which for me was just really inspiring to watch and re-watch, I'm gonna share with you what that is and my reaction to it. I just wanted to share a few lessons that I learned from my experience in this interview with Kobe and just my experience with him during that time. Again, I didn't know him well, um, but I do know people that did know him well, and they all spoke so highly of him and continue to speak about him and his legacy in such a high regard today. But one of the things from this interview that really stood out to me is about inspiring the people next to you, is how you create something that lasts forever. And again, Kobe inspired me in that moment, and that has been lasting for years after his passing and so many people around the world. It's about the value you add to each individual. That's what it's really about. He also talked about the power of unconditional love is Giving you the permission to fail. I love the story with his father where he said, "You know, my father said, 'Whether I score all the points or no points, I'm gonna love you no matter what.'" And I just think that's so powerful. In today's world, there's so much pressure on people to perform, to get results and deliver, especially parents with their kids. And to hear that he had that type of relationship with his father and he felt loved no matter whether he won or lost, it gave him permission to fail. He talked about the power of the fundamentals and w- how it's important to rest at the end, putting in the time and effort to train, always coming back to the fundamentals and working on them every single day. Now, Kobe wasn't a champion overnight. He spent years, decades honing his craft until he became a champion of the world, and he worked on the fundamentals. And sometimes we get busy trying to find the latest hack or trick to optimize us quicker than we need to get somewhere, when really, the more we focus on the fent- fundamentals over and over again, the faster we will go in life. He talked about losing being exciting. Now, here's Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest NBA players of all time, one of the greatest athletes of all time, talking about losing being exciting. And whenever I saw him lose, it didn't seem like he was having a lot of fun, but inside, he was learning, he was developing, he was analyzing and assessing, "What could I have done differently to prepare to win better the next time?" And when you make losing exciting, it doesn't discourage you to try and give your best effort. You're able to fully commit to the thing that you love and you're passionate about, whether you win or lose. And the more you fully commit, the more likely you will succeed and win in that process. I really love that. He talked about storytelling. I just thought this was fascinating that Kobe Bryant is talking about storytelling. He said, "This is the way we change the world." He said in the interview that, "Nothing moves without story." He was working on this with Dear Basketball in his book, and the Punies podcast, which is what we were interviewing him for in this episode, and he was always talking about how to inspire someone through story, and that's how you change the world. I just thought this is so cool that this basketball player was much more than an athlete, he was a storyteller on and off the court. And one of the things that I really enjoyed the most from this interview was him talking about family, him talking about love, and I think this is why this interview has resonated with so many people over the last few years that it's been out, is really him opening up about family, love, relationships in a way that people never really heard him speak about that topic. He talked about love, whether it's for a person, for a career, or for a sport. He says that things are never perfect, but it's the ability to persevere through the ups and downs that matter the most, and that spending time with his family brings him the most joy. And I... For me, at this season of my life, it reminds me about what's really important. And I don't have children yet, but it makes me want to have children faster, to create that experience, that love, that joy. And, um, I'm just... It just was so inspiring for me to witness this. Now, those were just a few of the many lessons. There is an incredible story that actually happened before the interview that I'll, that I'll share in the future sometime, but I wanted to get to the, the bonus footage. Now, again, the reason this content wasn't out there originally is because it was broken audio, it was kind of messed up, and we weren't able to restore it. But I said, "Let's go back." Now that AI has been really leading the way over the last six months, I said, "Let's see if we can actually restore this footage. Let's see if we can capture it, if we can edit it, if we can make it so that we can hear it." Now, the audio wasn't originally working, so you'll see Tiffany, who was working on the audio at a certain point in this video, because we weren't able to m- get the mics to work. So we are picking it up from the camera from a distance, but we couldn't really hear it before. And now with AI, it's able to pick it up pretty well. We also added subtitles here. So I want to play a video, uh, right when I sat down with Kobe. There was a couple minutes of us talking that we had a beautiful moment sharing some stories, but then we started to record, and this is what you're gonna see right before we go into this full interview. So here are the first four minutes of never-before-seen footage and experience of just connecting with him, and I'm gonna react to this video because, um, you're gonna see, again, like I said before, a lot of people on a, on a big level who've succeeded like Kobe don't act the way he does in this video. So I wanna play this. I'm gonna pause it, and I'm gonna react at a few different times, but I just thought it was really cool, so let's watch this bonus footage together right now. So this is called The School of Greatness. We, we interview the world's greatest leaders in business, sports.

    18. KBKobe Bryant54:01

        Yep.

    19. LHLewis Howes54:01

        I was a former, um, professional football player and transitioned into business.

    20. KBKobe Bryant54:05

        Uh-huh.

    21. LHLewis Howes54:06

        And I play with the USA National, uh, handball team. I don't know if you know team handball.

    22. KBKobe Bryant54:11

        Yeah, I do.

    23. LHLewis Howes54:11

        So I play with the USA team. We haven't qualified for the Olympics since '96.

    24. KBKobe Bryant54:15

        Okay.

    25. LHLewis Howes54:15

        So we've still been... It's kind of a side hobby-

    26. KBKobe Bryant54:17

        Mm-hmm

    27. LHLewis Howes54:18

        ... um, which I haven't played in a while. But, um, and I know you're legendary for your Olympics and how much you can give to the other athletes there.

    28. KBKobe Bryant54:25

        Yes.

    29. LHLewis Howes54:25

        So it's really cool to hear that stories. Um-

    30. KBKobe Bryant54:27

        Grew up playing handball. Handball is big in Italy.
17. 1:08:00 – 1:08:22

    Abrupt, unrelated ending clip (different topic and speaker)

    1. SPSpeaker1:08:00

       I might be the luckiest ski racer of all time that I got... That things clicked for me earlier than they do for most other athletes. I feel like that's really important, is you have to, you have to click with the equipment you have. You have to click with the coaches you have. People have to be on the same page, in the same mindset, in the same goals. And for the first three, four years of my career, I had that

Episode duration: 1:08:22