
Mamba Mentality (2018) - aecorredor
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/kobe-bryant-lakers-photos-andrew-bernstein
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dpeck
I was reading an article just the other day about Kobe talking about how he'd
memorized the referees handbooks about where they were supposed to be on the
floor for given player positions/times/etc, and how he would use that to be in
the blind spots. (in fairness probably some level of exaggeration there, but
given his stats and the way he got calls/no calls to go his way so much more
often than not, there is something to it)

The man had an exceptional level of focus for his craft, and he paired that
with natural talent and hard work to become a legend on the court.

“I made a point of reading the referee’s handbook. One of the rules I gleaned
from it was that each referee has a designated slot where he is supposed to be
on the floor. If the ball, for instance, is in place W, referees X, Y, and Z
each have an area on the court assigned to them. ...When they do that, it
creates dead zones, areas on the floor where they can’t see certain things. I
learned where those zones were, and I took advantage of them. I would get away
with holds, travels, and all sorts of minor violations simply because I took
the time to understand the officials’ limitations.”

~~~
nikofeyn
another explanation on why he gets away with stuff is just that he's kobe
(skilled and a top marketed player).

i know lebron isn't reading the handbooks, and he can walk from half-court on
a break away fast break without getting a travel call. that's because he's
lebron (can't dribble and is a top marketed player).

~~~
CalChris
That doesn't really happen. In fact Russell Westbrook, an MVP in his own
right, did it and got called for it.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm0t31ZNQIQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm0t31ZNQIQ)

~~~
nikofeyn
is that example really showing what you mean to show? i have seen it many
times before. just note how insanely long it took to make that call. there's
somewhere between five and seven steps before the whistle was blown.

> That doesn't really happen.

unless you're joking.

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wez470
Kobe's mentality was always super inspiring to me. It definitely made me push
myself further at points in my life in programming and various other
activities. One quote that stood out to me from his jersey retirement was:

"Those times when you get up early and you work hard, those times when you
stay up late and you work hard, those times when you don’t feel like working,
you’re too tired, you don’t want to push yourself, but you do it anyway. That
is actually the dream. That’s the dream. It’s not the destination, it’s the
journey. And if you guys can understand that, then what you’ll see happen is
you won’t accomplish your dreams, your dreams won’t come true; something
greater will."

Rest in peace.

------
peter_mcrae
I’m not into celebrities nor am I a Laker fan —- really the opposite — but
this has hit me more than I expected. One of the best comments I’ve seen is
about how Kobe more or less achieved self actualization. He willed himself to
be one of the greatest ever at his craft and was on his way to doing it again
off the court while being what I can see from the outside as an amazing dad.
It’s sad to see someone with so much to give the world life’s cut way short.

------
mikece
He once said something along the lines of “if Shaq approached conditioning and
practice the way he (Kobe) did they would have won at least ten titles in a
row.”

I can’t help but wonder what might have been if Shaq followed Kobe’s lead in
this regard instead of becoming the player he did.

------
chirau
I am finally glad to see a post that hasn't been taken down that recognizes
Kobe Bryant, even though somewhat distantly.

The behavior I saw from mods and the HN community yesterday left a lot to be
desired.

It left me questioning what qualifies as HN material and whether sometimes
this group is sometimes stubborn just for the sake of it.

Kobe Bryant might not have been a technologist but he definitely played a huge
role in a lot of developers' livelihood. Whether that was inspiration,
motivation, drive or mental health... Kobe influenced a lot of people. It
would be very arrogant to assume the HN community was free of his influence.

Every single Kobe post, no exception, was flagged or killed.

Some of us were not doing ok yesterday, and if we can't share our struggles
with the rest of the community then why are we even here? I felt a lot of
dictatorial tendencies yesterday on this platform and I personally really
hated it.

Your heroes are different from mine. To pretend as if Kobe's death is of zero
worth to this community is not only arrogant and selfish, but quite reflective
of the pains minorities suffer in communities like these.

Today I showed up at work wearing my Mamba jersey in memoriam. Had I gone with
the picture presented by HN yesterday, I would have thought I would have been
all alone and would have had to explain my depression to a lot of other folks
at work. Instead I was met with shared remorse and others also affected by the
death. Most of the people at work were in similar mode and we shared our
feelings and thoughts and comforted each other.

Yesterday, even if only for one day, I would have hoped HN would have been
that support group.

Mamba mentality is real and has driven a number of us. May it live forever.

Rest in eternal peace Kobe!

~~~
MoronInAHurry
And now the HN mods have flagged this comment as off-topic, which causes it to
be collapsed by default for all viewers of this thread. Everyone needs to
specifically click the [+X] on it to even be able to read it.

Regardless of that, it seems like you're upset because of some mistaken
expectations of what HN is for. It's not trying to be a "general purpose" site
where you should expect to be able to discuss any and all topics. It has a
pretty narrow focus, and users tend to aggressively flag posts about anything
without a clear connection to the set of subjects that they feel "belong"
here.

You shouldn't try to treat HN as a place where you'll be able to find general
news about the world or discuss anything in particular, no matter how
important you feel it is. It's a good site for its particular niche, but
you're going to end up with a myopic view if you aren't also using other sites
too.

~~~
tempsy
The fact that grumpy cat died got 153 upvotes
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19938054](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19938054)

And Niki Lauda who is a Formula One racer
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19968174](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19968174)

Point is there is no hard and fast rule and is subjective. There’s plenty of
people who died that have nothing to do with technology that have been not
been flagged for removal.

