Kobe Bryant Quotes & Sayings

I'm not jumping through the gym by any means. But I don't need to be able to do that in order to be a great player. — Kobe Bryant

Heroes come and go, but legends are forever. — Kobe Bryant

Once you open your eyes and start looking around you, you start picking up things that are very obvious. — Kobe Bryant

I'm just right down the middle, man, ... It doesn't matter to me. I'd love him (Phil Jackson) as a coach. It doesn't matter to me. If they want him here, he'll be here. If he wants to come, he'll come, he'll coach and we'll go from there. — Kobe Bryant

It's different from being 21 and you think there's endless amount of opportunities. At 33, the ending is much, much closer. — Kobe Bryant

I wanna be the best, simple and plain — Kobe Bryant

It never bothered me when people would say, 'You only win championships because you're playing with Shaq.' It bothered me when he said it. — Kobe Bryant

Eeew, I'd be a little uncomfortable Googling myself. People sit there - and Google themselves? That's kind of weird. — Kobe Bryant

I was an idiot when I was a kid. — Kobe Bryant

I draw from the crowd a lot. — Kobe Bryant

I feel like I just returned a 100-yard kickoff in the last two minutes of the Super Bowl to win it all, only to have my run called back by a flag on the play. — Kobe Bryant

Nobody in the world can guard me one-on-one, — Kobe Bryant

I love the weather, I love my '63 droptop Impala, I love the 405, and I love my guys. — Kobe Bryant

Listen to how everyone is talking about you. You have to use it as fuel for motivation. — Kobe Bryant

Teach players the game at an early age and stop treating them like cash cows for everyone to profit off of. — Kobe Bryant

I love going one-on-one with someone. That's what I do. I've never lost. It's a whole different game, just to have them right in front of you and be able to do whatever you want. — Kobe Bryant

Everybody shut up. Let us work. — Kobe Bryant

At the end of 2003, my game was complete. Shooting, defense, using the dribble, transition, midrange stuff was all there. Then it was about fine-tuning and trying to improve in each area. — Kobe Bryant

Magic has five championships. I have five championships. I'm pretty sure we both know what we're doing. — Kobe Bryant

I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success. Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses. — Kobe Bryant

Everything has a purpose. And that purpose has a story that goes along with it. It just depends on what your passion is. — Kobe Bryant

For us to be the team that got him that historic 10th championship is special for us. — Kobe Bryant

The important thing is that your teammates have to know you're pulling for them and you really want them to be successful. — Kobe Bryant

Dropkick Murphys get me going, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana ... plus, all the regular hip-hop stuff. — Kobe Bryant

Difficulty is a nurse of greatness-a harsh nurse, who rocks her foster children roughly, but rocks them in strength and athletic proportion. The mind, grappling with great aims and wrestling with mighty impediments, grows by a certain necessity to the stature of greatness. — Kobe Bryant

Diligent accumulation of personal wealth is not inherently ungodly so long as it is complemented by equally diligent distribution of personal wealth. — Kobe Bryant

There's a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something, there's a choice you have to make. We all can be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that. Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with making that decision. — Kobe Bryant

I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber. — Kobe Bryant

You can't go and anticipate what it is that you want to see. You just have to be present. Be where you are. — Kobe Bryant

I don't want to say I'll be back at the top of my game because everybody's gonna think I'm crazy and it's the old player not letting go sort of thing, but that's what it's gonna be. — Kobe Bryant

My brain cannot process failure ... It WILL not process failure — Kobe Bryant

You just try to take it one day at a time, ... You step on the basketball floor and just play. It's fun. I'm comfortable with it. — Kobe Bryant

To be honest with you, I (would) much rather play basketball and not be famous. — Kobe Bryant

You just stay patient, that's all. — Kobe Bryant

I was probably born a scorer, but I was made a winner. Whatever works, whatever wins championships, wins games, that's what I do. — Kobe Bryant

There's been a lot of talk of me being a one-man show but that's simply not the case. We win games when I score 40 points and we've won when I score 10. — Kobe Bryant

We're grown ass men, you don't need to be falling all over the place. — Kobe Bryant

In an individual sport, yes, you have to win titles. Baseball's different. But basketball, hockey? One person can control the tempo of a game, can completely alter the momentum of a series. There's a lot of great individual talent. — Kobe Bryant

The thing that's most enjoyable to me is not actually beating someone [in the game]. It's the process of coming up with the blueprint of beating that I enjoy. That's a huge flip, so for me I enjoy building. I enjoy coming up. — Kobe Bryant

Sometimes I do wonder what college would have been like. But I made my decision. — Kobe Bryant

I've got four dogs, and I just don't do dog doo. I'm a diva when it comes to that. — Kobe Bryant

The guy said NBA players are one in a million, ... I said, 'Man, look, I'm going to be that one in a million. — Kobe Bryant

I'm not the most patient of people. — Kobe Bryant

It's not about the number of hours you practice, it's about the number of hours your mind is present during the practice — Kobe Bryant

The people who truly know me know what I'm like. There have been people who try to say things that aren't fair, and I check them. And then they don't like me because I checked them. — Kobe Bryant

I don't set out to make a really hot shoe, I set out to make a product that is true to where I am. — Kobe Bryant

You're my backbone. You're a blessing. You're a piece of my heart. You're the air I breathe. And you're the strongest person I know, and I'm so sorry for having to put you through this and having to put our family through this. — Kobe Bryant

The Kobe 8 is about enhanced performance. It's the most comfortable shoe I have worn. It's simplistic but has an edge to it. — Kobe Bryant

It's not a question of if we make the playoffs; we will. And when we get there, I have no fear of anyone. — Kobe Bryant

I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant. — Kobe Bryant

If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear — Kobe Bryant

If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail. — Kobe Bryant

There is power in understanding the journey of others to help create your own — Kobe Bryant

You want me to own a team and deal with these rich, spoiled stubborn athletes, and try to get them to perform? No thank you. — Kobe Bryant

It doesn't bother me at all. Do I hold any hard feelings? Not at all, ... Life is too short to sit around and hold grudges. I don't hold any whatsoever. — Kobe Bryant

I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. No matter what the injury - unless it's completely debilitating - I'm going to be the same player I've always been. I'll figure it out. I'll make some tweaks, some changes, but I'm still coming. — Kobe Bryant

People just don't understand how obsessed I am with winning. — Kobe Bryant

Where are your balls at? — Kobe Bryant

I have my own identity ... The whole Michael thing does drive me nuts sometimes because people won't leave it alone. He's bald, I have hair. He's almost 40, I'm 22. Seriously though, I wish people would let it be and let me just be Kobe. — Kobe Bryant

You can't be held captive by the fear of failure or the fear of what people may say. — Kobe Bryant

What people see on court is another side of me; it's not me. — Kobe Bryant

I didn't expect this award [the 2008 MVP] would come to me. I'm surprised. I've played pretty well in other seasons. Our team hasn't been as good. Things just fell into place. — Kobe Bryant

What does perfection look like to me? Championship rings — Kobe Bryant

I know how to play my guard spot, ... He can worry about the low post. — Kobe Bryant

I grew up in front of these people, and now they are seeing me as an 'older' young man. — Kobe Bryant

Isn't the basis of a democracy to send somebody to Washington to bring something back for you? ... It isn't? — Kobe Bryant

Michael Jackson? He was something more (than one of my favorite entertainers), a true friend. He wasn't just a genius. Above all, he was a good person, who gave so much. He gave people values, he encouraged them to better themselves all the time. He was far deeper and more authentic than people could see. He was misunderstood too many times — Kobe Bryant

I had some shots that I felt like I should've made; I just didn't make them. I'm not going to shoot the ball great every night. — Kobe Bryant

Because we're old as sh*t. What do you want? — Kobe Bryant

If you make it, great. If you miss it, what's there to be afraid of? — Kobe Bryant

It's just a matter of getting those legs back. — Kobe Bryant

Only an idiot would doubt my return — Kobe Bryant

If there were camera phones back in the day, the biggest athletes in the world would have had a lot of explaining to do. — Kobe Bryant

Twitter is great to connect with fans and be transparent. I enjoy that aspect about it. But really, I'm still trying to figure it out. — Kobe Bryant

Love me or hate me. It's one or the other. Always has been. Hate my game, my swagger. Hate my fadeaway, my hunger. Hate that I'm a veteran, a champion. Hate that. Hate it with all your heart. And hate that I'm loved for the exact same reasons. — Kobe Bryant

The most important thing, the thing that unites all of us, is that we can INSPIRE and CHALLENGE one another TO BE BETTER. — Kobe Bryant

I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition-that's what I've always wanted. — Kobe Bryant

By eloquence I understand those appeals to our moral perceptions that produce emotion as soon as they are uttered. This is the very enthusiasm that is the parent of poetry. Let the same man go to his closet and clothe in numbers conceptions full of the same fire and spirit, and they will be poetry. — Kobe Bryant

You always have to be on edge. You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last. — Kobe Bryant

I realize now that there's a strength in dunking that I can use to my advantage. When you dunk all the time it isn't as demoralizing to the opponent, but when you dunk at a key moment in the game you can use it to change the momentum. — Kobe Bryant

I'm going to be the Will Smith of the NBA. — Kobe Bryant

I enjoy playing at the heart of it is just a kid who really loves playing the game of basketball. — Kobe Bryant

Everyone looks at your watch and it represents who you are, your values and your personal style. — Kobe Bryant

The party's just getting started. This is where the fun starts. — Kobe Bryant

It's disgusting, but my father taught me when your mouth gets dry, just suck the sweat out of your own jersey. There's no bravado to any of it; it's just a disgusting little trick. — Kobe Bryant

I don't have to hear that criticism, that idotic criticism anymore. — Kobe Bryant

He [Phil Jackson] is such a basketball genius in terms of the details of the game, the little nuances of the game and the rhythm of the game. — Kobe Bryant

Can I jump over two or three guys like I used to? No. Am I as fast as I used to be? No, but I still have the fundamentals and smarts. That's what enables me to still be a dominant player. As a kid growing up, I never skipped steps. I always worked on fundamentals because I know athleticism is fleeting. — Kobe Bryant

Everybody wants to talk about NBA players being selfish and arrogant and individuals. But what you saw today was a team bonding and facing adversity and coming out with a big win. — Kobe Bryant

It doesn't matter to me what place I get traded to. If I was traded someplace - I'd play anywhere. — Kobe Bryant

I'm a scorer, not a triple-double player — Kobe Bryant

That argument doesn't make any sense to me. So we want to advance as a society and a culture, but, say, if something happens to an African-American we immediately come to his defense? Yet you want to talk about how far we've progressed as a society? Well, we've progressed as a society, then don't jump to somebody's defense just because they're African-American. You sit and you listen to the facts just like you would in any other situation, right? So I won't assert myself. — Kobe Bryant

Horrible, terrible AAU basketball. It's stupid. It doesn't teach our kids how to play the game at all so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don't know how to post. They don't know the fundamentals of the game. It's stupid. — Kobe Bryant

I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot. — Kobe Bryant

I've pretty much done all I can here and, you know, God will carry me the rest of the way, so I'm pretty comfortable with that. — Kobe Bryant

A lot of times things get blown out of proportion in a negative light, especially in the NBA, ... But there are a lot of players in the NBA who really care about the community and want to use their basketball-playing ability for a good cause. — Kobe Bryant

Each moment of my life I was dreaming of how great I could be, and continued working hard. Each time I closed my eyes I could see me shining bright like a sun. — Kobe Bryant

I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it into Chris Mihm & Kwame Brown? — Kobe Bryant

He is a fool who only sees the mischiefs that are past. — Kobe Bryant

Winning takes precedence over all. There's no gray area. No almosts. — Kobe Bryant