Quotes & Sayings About Kobe

People look at my competitive spirit, and they automatically attach it to the thing that's most similar, most easily recognizable, which is Michael [Jordan's] competitive spirit. I'm different. I enjoy building. I enjoy the process of putting the puzzle together, and then the byproduct of that, the consequence of that, is beating somebody. That becomes the cherry on top, the icing on the cake. — Kobe Bryant

You can eat a Burger for $5 or a Kobe Steak for $100. They both fill you up. The real difference is the experience. — David Dobson

Kobe beef is not named after Kobe Bryant. Do not make this mistake. — Chelsea Handler

One thing you gotta know about me is I have absolutely no filter. I have no problem saying what the hell I think of someone. — Kobe Bryant

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

Honestly, I don't listen to nobody else's music but my own. It's kind of like sports to me. You don't see Kobe Bryant at a LeBron James game - he just works on his own game. And that's what I do. I only listen to me, so I can criticize and analyze and all those things. — Lil' Wayne

I never tried to prove anything to someone else. I wanted to prove something to myself. — Kobe Bryant

I don't talk trash often, but when I do, I go for the jugular. — Kobe Bryant

I was an idiot when I was a kid. — 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

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

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

Except for a short period at the end of World War II, I attended an elementary school affiliated to Kobe University from ages six to twelve and then moved on to Nada Middle and High School from ages twelve to eighteen. I enjoyed many out-door activities in my youth. — Ryoji Noyori

I don't think a coach becomes the right coach until he wins a championship. — Kobe Bryant

Millions of guys play millions of basketball games every day of the week at the playground or the YMCA. But LeBron James gets $20 million a year because he can jam on all of those guys. We're always going to want to see LeBron and Kobe go at it. — Adam Carolla

Pooper scooper? Yeah, I've done it a few times. Every once in a while, you have to. — Kobe Bryant

I don't think LeBron will win 5 rings, it's gonna be hard for him to catch up to Kobe. — Skylar Diggins

The best player I've ever played against is Kobe Bryant. I have seen him do some stuff that is just unbelievable. — Dirk Nowitzki

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 don't just try to score. The challenge is elevating my teammates to be able to win a championship. — Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant is my favorite basketball player. He takes risks. He goes for the shot. He isn't cautious with whatever he does. — Haley Joel Osment

What we would think of as a beef animal had the double purpose of being a working or draught animal that could pull heavy loads. There is an old adage, "A year to grow, two years to plough and a year to fatten." The beef medieval people would have eaten would have been a maturer, denser meat than we are used to today. I have always longed to try it. The muscle acquired from a working ox would have broken down over the fattening year and provided wonderful fat covering and marbling. Given the amount of brewing that took place, the odds are that the animals would have been fed a little drained mash from time to time. Kobe beef, that excessively expensive Japanese beef, was originally obtained from ex-plough animals whose muscles were broken down by mash from sake production and by massage. I'd like to think our beef might have had a not dissimilar flavour. — Clarissa Dickson Wright

He shouldn't have been in the NBA, but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. — Kobe Bryant

When you play with Kobe Bryant, the ball is gonna be with him most of the time, which is understandable. — Steve Nash

We all know what flopping is when we see it. The stuff that you see is where guys aren't really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water. — Kobe Bryant

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

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

Kobe [Bryant] had the biggest contract for a high school kid. He was the first one to get more than a million a year. — Sonny Vaccaro

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

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

The hunger [to success] is the same, no matter what it is that you're doing. It's like an unquenchable thirst to learn more, or to feel like you could have done more, and to be brutally honest and self critical, which is very hard to do. It's easy, and human nature is to just blame somebody else. It's very, very hard to self assess. — Kobe Bryant

There is one thing I can say for certain: the older a person gets, the lonelier he becomes. It's true for everyone. But maybe that isn't wrong. What I mean is, in a sense our lives are nothing more than a series of stages to help us get used to loneliness. That being the case, there's no reason to complain. And besides who would be complaint to anyway? (A Walk To Kobe, Granta 124: Travel) — Haruki Murakami

He practiced against Kobe all of last year, so obviously it was sweet revenge for him. We deserved that. We didn't know who he was, we gave him up to Charlotte, we had no idea how good a player he was. — Phil Jackson

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

Kobe enjoys that situation. Stepping up and making the big basket or being involved in a key play. — Jason Kidd

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

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

You know how I be. Last week Kobe couldn't do without me. — Shaquille O'Neal

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

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

What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection ... and if I don't get it, I'm going to get this close. — Kobe Bryant

I grew up in L.A., so I'm a huge Lakers fan and Kobe fan. — Malcolm David Kelley

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

I've been watching Messi for some time now, and his ability to decide games and keep possession of the ball is amazing. — Kobe Bryant

I think that game is a testament to what happens when you put no ceiling to what you're capable of doing. — Kobe Bryant

There's a reason why players that have multiple championships have multiple championships. There's a certain characteristic and an understanding and knowledge and that's not something that's easily taught. You kind of have to go through it and it kind of has to be part of your DNA from the beginning. — Kobe Bryant

He reminds me of Michael Jordan. "You look and they have similar games where they want to lead their team to victory, no matter if they have to shoot the ball every time or if they have to rebound or pass, they're going to find a way to win." I've always said that Kobe Bryant is the best scorer in our game today and he's definitely proving himself. — LeBron James

I'm focused on the task that lies ahead for us. — 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

The most important talent to have is the ability to cooperate with others. It is the foundation on which a great village is built and it only cost a smile or a kind word. — Kaizen Kobe

I'm a musician - I'm always making music. Kobe Bryant is always playing ball. Well, Snoop Dogg is always recording. — Snoop Dogg

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

I focus on one thing and one thing only - that's trying to win as many championships as I can. — Kobe Bryant

I played T-Mac. I cooked him. Roasted him. Wasn't even close. — Kobe Bryant

If they want to win right now, I'm all for it. That's all I said the whole time. If you want to wait five years, let me know. My legs aren't as young as they used to be. — Kobe Bryant

I think there's a lot of different ways to win. You've seen teams that win championships with a super-duper star like Kobe Bryant. Those championship teams with Michael Jordan certainly had a great, great player. — Doug Collins

Tokyo may have more money and Kyoto more culture; Nara may have more history and Kobe more style. But Osaka has the biggest heart. — Vikas Swarup

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

If you want to make history, you have to do historic things — Kobe Bryant

Only an idiot would doubt my return — Kobe Bryant

A fan is always an outsider. Most sportswriters are not, by this definition, fans. They capitalize on access to athletes. They spoke to Kobe last night, and Kobe says his finger is going to be fine. They spent three days fly-fishing with Brett Favre in March, and Brett says he's definitely coming back for another season. — Malcolm Gladwell

I might not be Shaq, but I can be Kobe, you know? — Jerry Only

This is an award I couldn't have won on my own. I can't thank these guys enough. These are my guys, these are my brothers. — 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

In my 20s, I could just power through stuff and be fine, but now, in your 40s? It's kind of like Kobe Bryant. He plays basketball a little bit differently than he did when he first started out. — Daniel Wu

Losing Michael Jackson is a handicap. It's the Lakers trying to win a championship without Kobe Bryant. — Tito Jackson

Somebody asked me about this the other day. A young Shaq and a young Penny, the young Shaq's going to take over. A medium Shaq and a young Kobe, the medium Shaq is going to take over. Now you've got an older Shaq and a young Dwyane; you step aside, you let him do his thing and you just do what's asked of you. — Shaquille O'Neal

Kobe Bryant will be better than Michael Jordan — Mark Jackson

I'm chasing perfection. — 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

People will think there are no other great ballplayers. Look at Garnett. Look at Duncan, Shaq, Kobe. Look at the players with Sacramento. The have a really good basketball team. — Oscar Robertson

Tom watched with his arms folded as the life that had been within Kobe died out, and the fire continued. — Keisha Keenleyside

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

Paternalistic is a very good word. They think they have to look out for these guys? Don't worry about it. Why? Because of history. Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. They did okay. — Sonny Vaccaro

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

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

I'm reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose. — 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

Basketball is my refuge, my sanctuary. I go back to being a kid on the playground. When I get here, it's all good. — Kobe Bryant

I can't relate to lazy people. We don't speak the same language. I don't understand you. I don't want to understand you. — Kobe Bryant

They're talking about Kobe and how great it is that he's playing with the team. Well, isn't that what you're supposed to do? Now he's the savior because he's playing that way? He's no god. He does what he's supposed to be doing, which is what we learned in kindergarten. Share the ball and play. And that's what we do better than they do — Jack McCallum

Just got one more than Shaq. You can take that to the bank. — Kobe Bryant

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

Where are your balls at? — 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

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 just so excited. We all are. We've been waiting for this [the gold medal] for years now and it's finally here. This meant so much. It just felt so good. — 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

Nobody can guard Kobe one-on-one. Nobody. — Del Harris

You have to be able to separate business from the love of the game. There were a lot of decisions made business-wise that I wasn't happy with, and I took a lot of blame over the years. But you have to be able to separate that from the love you have for the game. — Kobe Bryant

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

The Black Mamba collection of watches is me: It is my alter ego, so to speak. As I mentioned before, it is sharp, cutting edge and sleek which are characteristics I try to apply when I'm out there on the basketball court. — Kobe Bryant