The Mamba Mentality

Wijay000
2 min readJan 4, 2025

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This is the name of the book I read on 31 December 2024. It was a breezy read and I could complete the book in 2 hours. The book is a summary of notes written by Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

The Mamba Mentality, according to Kobe, is the relentless pursuit to be the best version of one self. The book was loaded with tons of granular details about Kobe’s work routine and his mindset. To me there were a few things that stood out -

  1. Kobe reading the referee’s handbook was mind blowing. He was not just thinking about his opponents but the game in its entirety. So, on the court, there are not just players. There are referees too. By understanding their rules and their movements, Kobe had created moves leveraging the referee as a design constraint. The level of detail one needs to work on if one wants to be the best was strikingly evident
  2. Kobe’s focus on the long term showcased his clarity. He was relentlessly focused on being the best in the game. Every outcome, whether positive or negative, was a means to the end, which is about being the best. With that clarity and commitment, he had developed a sense of equanimity that made him continue his intense training day in day out either after a successful win or a heartbreaking loss.
  3. Boos don’t block dunks was such a powerful quote. This showed enormous will power to face and accept criticism and even cynicism. He was hell bent on improving himself that he didnt have time to get bogged down by the naysayers. He took whatever people threw at him and centered his focus on one thing — developing himself.

My son used to talk about Kobe Bryant when he started his basketball classes. I was not aware of Kobe. I used to know only Michael Jordan and I assumed that there could not be anyone at that level. One of the things that I am learning from my kids is to explore things that they like so that I can stay relevant in my conversations as they grow up. It also teaches me a lot of new things and exposes areas where I have a fixed mindset.

One of my goals this year is to develop the mamba mentality.

I will.

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Wijay000
Wijay000

Written by Wijay000

Father, Entrepreneur & Writer; Edison award winning innovation; Daytime Emmy nominated animation; Author of two books; WEF Davos, Cannes Lions, TEDx

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