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I think that s what greatness is or should be.
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It s not something that lives and dies with one person.
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It s how can you inspire a person to then in turn inspire another person that then inspires another person.
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And that s how you create something that I think lasts forever.
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Welcome to the School of Greatness.
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My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur.
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And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness.
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Thanks for spending some time with me today.
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Now let the class begin.
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I m so excited for you to experience one of Kobe Bryant s last interviews.
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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.
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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.
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I m so excited for you to watch this interview and to see the bonus content at the end.
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It s content that we found recently that we are now releasing with this interview.
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Again,
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Stay tuned to the end, and I hope you enjoy one of the great interviews of Kobe Bryant.
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Welcome, everyone, to the School of Greatness podcast.
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We have the incredible, legendary Kobe Bryant, my man.
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It s good to meet you.
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Pleasure, man.
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Congrats on everything.
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You re an icon, a legend.
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And the thing I love the most about you is that you really care about other human beings.
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Your heart is so big.
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Even though you ve been known for this focused mentality that is just
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almost psycho in some ways, but you care deeply about human beings.
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And I think that s why so many people love you as well.
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So I want to acknowledge you for your kindness and your generosity towards humanity.
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My first question for you is I m curious about
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Who was your greatest teacher growing up?
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Because you had an interesting childhood being in Italy for a while, coming back to Philadelphia, I think it was.
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Who was the greatest teacher for you in those early days?
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That s funny.
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I had a lot of them.
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My parents were great.
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Growing up, they instilled in me the importance of imagination, of curiosity, and understanding that, OK, if you want to accomplish something, I m not just going to sit here and say, yes, you can do whatever you want.
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Yes, you can.
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But you have to also put in the work to get there, right?
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So they taught me that at a really early age, man.
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And 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.
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Yeah.
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Who was more influential for you, your father or mother?
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Both were influential at different points, right?
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My mom was there on a daily basis.
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My father,
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was really influential at a really critical time where I had a summer where I played basketball when I was like 10 or 11 years old.
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and 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 and that sort of stuff.
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And Bo Chamberlain played in the league, you know, Earle Pomeroy played in the league.
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And here I come, playing, and I don t score one point the entire summer.
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Really?
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Not one.
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How old were you?
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11, 10, 11.
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And you re playing against other 10, 11-year-olds?
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Uh-huh.
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And you didn t score once?
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Not one.
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Were you in the game?
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I was in the game.
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How d you not score?
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Because I was terrible.
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Really?
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Yeah.
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That happened.
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At 10 or 11 years old, you were that tall.
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Awful.
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I mean, you know, and I had these big knee pads on because I was growing really fast, and I had socks all the way up here, and I had, like, the pod top fade.
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Skinny, yeah.
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Like, skinny as hell.
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And I scored not a free throw, not a nothing, not a lucky shot, not a breakaway layup, zero points.
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And I remember crying about it and being upset about it, and my father just gave me a hug and said, listen,
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Whether you score zero or score 60, I m gonna love you no matter what.
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Wow.
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Now that is the most important thing that you can say to a child.
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Because from there, I was like, okay, that gives me all the confidence in the world to fail.
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I have the security there.
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But to hell with that, I m scoring 60.
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Let s go.
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And from there, I just went to work.
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I just stayed with it.
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I kept practicing, kept practicing, kept practicing.
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Is that when you think the mentality of hard work started to come in for you at that age, when you failed so miserably, I guess, that summer?
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I think that s when the idea of understanding a long-term view became important.
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Because I wasn t going to catch these kids in a week.
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I wasn t going to catch them in a year.
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So that s when I sat down and said, OK, this is going to take some thought.
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What do I want to work on first?
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All right, shooting.
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All right, let s knock this out.
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Let s focus on this half a year, six months, do nothing but shoot.
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After that, all right, creating your own shot.
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So I started creating a menu of things.
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When I came back the next summer, I was a little bit better.
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I met you being like, I ve got my jump shot from 15, I ve got my fade away.
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Yeah, I got my jump shot from 15, I got my three point shot, like just open shots, not miss open shots.
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Be able to shoot it with speed, because those kids are so much more athletic.
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And then the next summer I came back, I was a little better.
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And the summer came back, the next summer I was a little better.
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I scored.
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It wasn t much, but I scored.
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And this is 12, 13?
0
12, 13.
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And then 14 came around, back half of 13, 14 years old.
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And then I was just killing everyone.
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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.
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But they relied on their athleticism and their natural ability.
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And because I stick to the fundamentals, it just caught up to them.
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And then my body, you know, my knees stopped hurting.
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I grew into my frame.
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And then your athleticism, once you have the fundamentals, the hard work, the mindset, and you tack on the athleticism, it s game over.
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Then it was game over.
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Wow.
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So from 13, you re
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Good, average still?
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I was good.
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I was good.
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And then about the end of my third, like right when I was turning 14, I became the best player in the state.
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At 14?
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At 14.
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So from 12 to 14, you went from scoring zero to being the best in the state of all ages.
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Yep.
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But it s simple.
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Like if you do the math on this, right?
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Like if you re thinking about how often kids are playing.
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I tell this to my daughter and my daughter s team as well that I coach.
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It s a simple thing of math.
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If you want to be a great player, if you play every single day, two, three hours, every single day, over the course of a year, how much better are you getting?
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Most kids will play maybe an hour and a half, two days a week.
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Right.
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Put a math on that.
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It s not going to get it done.
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It s not going to get it done, right?
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So if you re obsessively training two, three hours every single day over a year, over two years,
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You re going to accelerate.
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You make quantum leaps, man.
0
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Just doing a summer camp for two weeks, you see a difference.
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I remember playing basketball.
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You see it.
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You get a lot better, and you come back more confident playing on the playground with guys who used to beat you.
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Yeah.
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And I tell the parents on my team, I say, your kids are going to become great basketball players.
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And they re like, really?
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I m like, yeah, it s not.
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It s math.
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Show up every single day.
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Show up every single day, do the work.
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But you have this Mamba mentality, your book s coming out soon, and how did you develop this?
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There s a beautiful story that I love from Jay Williams, I don t know if you remember Jay Williams, 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 like, I m gonna show up so early to the court to warm up and practice before anyone.
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And he shows up at the court, I don t know if it was in LA or where I was,
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And you were the only one there, already shooting free throws, already doing your fundamentals.
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And he goes, I m going to stay here until Kobe leaves.
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And then he was like, gosh, an hour and a half, two hours later.
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I got to go.
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I m tired.
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And Kobe s still shooting free throws, scoring, like just going over the fundamentals.
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And he goes.
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And then we played that game and you were lights out.
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And he came up to you afterwards and said like, dude, why were you in there for so long?
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Or how d you do it?
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And he said, this is what he said.
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You said, so I knew you were watching and I wanted to show you that I was willing to outwork you.
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Right.
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Something along those lines.
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I don t know if you remember this.
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I remember that you remember.
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Yeah.
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And I thought that was so powerful that you have this mindset, but how did you develop that?
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And I don t know if that s what you call the mom of mindset, but how did you develop that?
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And when did it start?
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It started in middle school and high school.
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because a lot of the kids that i was playing against were inner city kids and so you re looking at me as if okay this kid s soft he s from the suburbs of philadelphia his father played in the nba, played professionally, he s got it easy, born on second base, all this other stuff right and so it felt like they could try to be physical or try to intimidate me and do all this other stuff which they couldn t right but now i m saying okay well you re trying to attack me how am i going to attack you how can i
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Mentally figure out ways to break break you down.
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How can I show you that?
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No, I have the edge Right and so that s when it first started for me is figuring out how to get the upper hand on an opponent that way And what would you do to mentally break people down then?
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Well, I mean, you know like we used to have an all-american camp that I used to go to and you know at the time I first showed I was a sophomore and I
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One of the things I would do is while everybody would be at the cafeteria eating and doing all that sort of stuff, I d just go back to the gym.
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I just go back to the gym.
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They d be resting, eating.
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And they d see me leave, right?
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But now you re in a tough position, because you re like, OK, I want to be like, I m following a kid to go work out.
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But I know he s working.
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He s up early, and he s doing all this other stuff.
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And so that was my way of showing them, yeah, I may be from the suburbs, but you re not going to outwork me.
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And I m mentally going to be much tougher.
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Did someone teach you that?
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Was that just a thing that you decided, like, I m going to get in people s minds?
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I think it s just figuring out ways to be better and to win the game.
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And it started as a defense mechanism because
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you know, they were the ones talking trash to me and, you know, kid from Italy, blah, blah, blah, and all this other stuff.
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And it was like, okay, I gotta, I can t let them, I gotta defend myself here, right?
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And then it became, okay, you know, I m pretty witty.
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I can say some pretty witty things.
1
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Yeah.
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And in Italian.
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And in Italian, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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It s interesting, you know, I never was physically gifted to an extreme level.
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I was always really good, but I was never like the fastest or biggest or strongest.
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But I remember my edge was, I m not going to go party, and I m not going to drink alcohol.
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So I ve never been drunk still, because I was like, I need every edge when guys were out partying late at night, who were better than me, and drinking and showing up hungover.
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I was like, I m going to be more focused and have a clearer vision.
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And, but I wasn t waking up at 4 a.m.
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like you, so.
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Well, that s interesting because when I played, one of the things I had to learn is how to get the best out of my teammates.
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Yeah.
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And most people think it s a simple thing, you know, passing the ball.
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But that s not how you make guys better.
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You have to really affect.
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their behavior.
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How do you do that?
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So, you know, like I would tell guys, you know, we got to back to backs.
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You know, I don t care if we re in Miami.
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I don t care if we re in a great city of Chicago.
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We can t go out.
1
SPEAKER_00
We gotta get rest, right?
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Back to back games.
1
SPEAKER_00
Back to back games, right?
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Monday, Tuesday.
1
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You play Monday and play again Tuesday.
1
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Guys are gonna listen, right?
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You re gonna, you know.
1
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Right.
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So, a few times I said, alright, we ll all go out.
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We ll go out together.
1
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Really?
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I ll drink with you, right?
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But the next morning, I m banging on your door at five in the morning.
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Let s go.
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Where are we going?
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I ll hang out with you.
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Now you come hang out with me.
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This is what we do.
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All right, let s go.
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We re at the gym, we re working out, right?
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We hit the bus, we go to practice, we play that night.
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And they re dead.
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And they re dead.
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And they re like, lesson learned.
1
SPEAKER_00
Really?
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Lesson learned.
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So you take them out once.
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Listen, if you re going to do that, do that.
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But don t let that compromise what we re here to do.
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This is why we re here.
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This is why you re here in the first place.
1
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Yeah.
1
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Right?
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And if we re going to win a championship, we have to have that championship mentality and work ethic.
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That s it.
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That s it.
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So you ve got to show them, look, Kobe can do that and still has the energy to get up and do this.
1
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So either I ve got to meet that same energy or I ve got to keep my butt in my room.
1
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Go to bed early, yeah.
1
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Wow.
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What are some other things you did to rise the level of your teammates?
1
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What are some other ways that you can?
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And what do you think people can do in general with a business team or any sports team?
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I think you have to listen, and you have to pay attention to what your colleagues or teammates are saying, and what are certain things that drive them, certain things that motivate them, that trigger them.
1
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And one of my favorite ones, Pal hates it every time I tell this story.
1
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He hates it.
1
SPEAKER_00
But we lost to the Celtics in 08.
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And it was a physical series.
1
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I mean, they beat the crap out of us.
1
SPEAKER_00
And so we go into the Olympic year that year.
1
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We wound up playing in Spain for the gold medal match.
1
SPEAKER_00
And we beat them.
1
SPEAKER_00
And so now we come back to start training camp.
1
SPEAKER_00
And my pal shows up the first day of training camp.
1
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I had my gold medal hanging in his locker.
1
SPEAKER_01
Oh, no.
1
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And he, I mean, like, the one thing that he truly, truly loves is his country.
1
SPEAKER_00
Of course.
1
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That is, like, everything to him.
1
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So it just drove him crazy.
1
SPEAKER_00
I said, pal, listen.
1
SPEAKER_00
He said, you re an a**hole.
1
SPEAKER_00
I said, listen, pal, you lost to the Celtics.
1
SPEAKER_00
You lost to us in a gold medal match.
1
SPEAKER_00
Let s not make this three in a row this year.
1
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
1
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Let s win this thing.
1
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And that was it for him.
1
SPEAKER_00
And he probably stepped up at a whole nother level.
1
SPEAKER_00
Well, you know, Powell was a phenomenon to begin with.
1
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And then for him was just stepping up to a level of physicality that we needed him to get to, which he did.
1
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And we went on to win back-to-back championships.
1
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My man.
1
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How important is understanding human psychology and human behavior
1
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to work with a team as opposed to just relying on your gifts and talents?
1
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It s probably the most important thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
You know, 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.
1
SPEAKER_00
And you have to figure out how to do that.
1
SPEAKER_00
And, you know, Phil Jackson was great at that.
1
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Phil, you know, he wouldn t just coach the team or coach the game.
1
SPEAKER_00
but he d read everything about every single player.
1
SPEAKER_00
He d learn about your history, how you grew up, how you were raised, where were you raised.
1
SPEAKER_00
He ll read every interview and he ll learn about you and gives him a better understanding of what s motivating you, what your insecurities are, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
And then it just helps him communicate with you better or even push a button here if he needs to.
1
SPEAKER_01
When did you learn that it was important to understand who your teammates are, what their likes and dislikes are?
1
SPEAKER_01
Was that in high school for you or more?
1
SPEAKER_00
No, I learned it from Phil.
1
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There was a stretch in 03, where Shaq was out with an injury.
1
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And Phil called me up to his office and said, OK, we need you to really turn on the afterburners and start scoring the ball if we have to win.
1
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I did, and I wound up scoring, I think it was nine straight games for 40 plus points.
1
SPEAKER_00
Nine straight?
1
SPEAKER_00
Nine straight games.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then Shaq comes back second to last game of that.
1
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And then Phil calls me up to his office and says, Cole, OK, I need you to dial it back.
1
SPEAKER_00
I m like,
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SPEAKER_00
Why?
1
SPEAKER_00
Like, we re winning.
1
SPEAKER_00
I don t understand.
1
SPEAKER_00
It s because our goal is to win a championship.
1
SPEAKER_00
And we can get through the Western Conference with you playing this way.
1
SPEAKER_00
But in the East, you know, we can dominate them inside with Shaq in the post.
1
SPEAKER_00
But if you continue to do this, we ll lose Shaq.
1
SPEAKER_00
We ll lose him.
1
SPEAKER_01
His motivation, his excitement.
1
SPEAKER_00
What triggers him, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
So, I need you to pull back so we can pull Shaq forward for June.
1
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I just looked at him like,
1
SPEAKER_00
Smart dude.
1
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, that s one smart dude, man.
1
SPEAKER_00
So I pulled the bag.
1
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
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What do you think has been the greatest challenge you ve had since leaving the game?
1
SPEAKER_00
The greatest challenge.
1
SPEAKER_01
I think it s, I mean, you won an Oscar, you re launching podcasts and shows and you got a book coming out.
1
SPEAKER_00
But it s different though.
1
SPEAKER_00
We were just talking about it here in the office the other day.
1
SPEAKER_00
You know, when you play the game, you hit a game-winning shot, you miss a shot, the reaction s there.
1
SPEAKER_00
You can see how people are responding to it, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
You can feel it.
1
SPEAKER_00
The energy is there.
1
SPEAKER_00
The energy is there.
1
SPEAKER_00
What I do now, you don t.
1
SPEAKER_00
Like, I don t see how people are affected by deer basketball or, you know, creating the punies and you put it out there.
1
SPEAKER_00
Like, I wish I could
1
SPEAKER_00
see a car ride of a family the first time, their daughter hears Lily s Lemonade and what she s doing, you know, she s singing along to it.
1
SPEAKER_00
That s not there, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
So that s the challenge.
1
SPEAKER_00
That s the one thing that I miss is being able to feed off of the energy.
1
SPEAKER_01
The instant feedback that you get from missing or scoring a shot, winning or losing a game.
1
SPEAKER_01
It s like either way you re getting a result, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes, yes.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes, that s the one thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I went to, because I spent a lot of time with mentors as well up at Pixar and Disney Studios.
1
SPEAKER_00
They ve been absolutely wonderful animation, Disney animation.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I ve talked to them about Frozen and Moana and how kids love them.
1
SPEAKER_00
And they re always like, oh, that s awesome.
1
SPEAKER_00
And they want to hear it because they don t ever get a chance to truly see it.
1
SPEAKER_00
Like they re not sitting in a movie theater like.
1
SPEAKER_00
No, no.
1
SPEAKER_00
And they don t have time to go to Disneyland and walk around the park and see how many
1
SPEAKER_00
Families are enjoying the content that they ve created because they re busy making the next one.
1
SPEAKER_00
Creating.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
1
SPEAKER_01
So that s the one thing.
1
SPEAKER_01
What do you think the biggest challenge is for most athletes after they retire?
1
SPEAKER_00
I think it s the fear of starting anew.
1
SPEAKER_00
And that was certainly present for me as well.
1
SPEAKER_00
Really?
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
Like an identity, you mean?
1
SPEAKER_00
Well, it s starting from scratch, right?
1
SPEAKER_00
Because when you play for 20 years, you reach a certain level.
1
SPEAKER_00
You re like, OK, wait a minute.
1
SPEAKER_00
I have to start again at the base of a mountain.
1
SPEAKER_00
and try to climb the top of this mountain.
1
SPEAKER_00
First of all, what mountain am I climbing?
1
SPEAKER_00
I don t even know, like, what the hell am I gonna be doing?
1
SPEAKER_00
It s very scary.
1
SPEAKER_00
It s very scary.
1
SPEAKER_00
Even for you?
1
SPEAKER_00
Oh, absolutely.
1
SPEAKER_00
Absolutely.
1
SPEAKER_00
And the thing that helped me, actually, was hurting my Achilles.
1
SPEAKER_00
Because that forced me to sit there and say, okay, the day could be today that your career is over.
1
SPEAKER_01
At any time, when you were playing, you mean, yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
Now, what do you do?
1
SPEAKER_00
You have these ideas about doing something with your life after basketball, but what if today is the day that you, that s it, now what do you do?
1
SPEAKER_00
So I had all this time sitting there with my Achilles injury and contemplating and thinking and I said, I better get to work.
2
SPEAKER_00
That was that.
2
SPEAKER_00
What was the vision for you afterwards then?
2
SPEAKER_00
Was it to do what you re doing now?
2
SPEAKER_00
Did you have other ideas?
2
SPEAKER_00
Or what s the vision?
2
SPEAKER_01
I struggled with it at first.
2
SPEAKER_01
Because the first question I asked, which is the wrong question, is what s the biggest industry I can get into?
2
SPEAKER_00
Was it more money thinking or?
2
SPEAKER_01
Yes, money thinking.
2
SPEAKER_01
Saying, okay, athletes are saying you can t make more revenue when you retire, this is your source of your income is here.
2
SPEAKER_01
Saying, okay, that s a challenge, what can I do?
2
SPEAKER_01
And I remember going through.
2
SPEAKER_00
Didn t you launch a fund or something?
2
SPEAKER_01
I did, I did.
2
SPEAKER_01
And so I went for a ride and I said, okay, stop thinking of it that way.
2
SPEAKER_01
You re thinking of it the wrong way.
2
SPEAKER_01
Why d you start playing basketball?
2
SPEAKER_01
Because I loved it.
2
SPEAKER_01
All right, what do you love to do?
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh, I love to tell stories.
2
SPEAKER_01
All right, let s do that.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then that s where it started for me.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then on top of that, it became things like, you know, we started learning more about the financial industry and about players going broke once they retire and saying, okay, how can I,
2
SPEAKER_01
How can I minimize the chances of that happening?
2
SPEAKER_01
What are things that I can do to invest my money smartly?
2
SPEAKER_01
Also help control some of that outcome to a certain extent.
2
SPEAKER_01
And that s when I called Mike Rapoli.
2
SPEAKER_01
Mike Rapoli was an entrepreneur who built Vitamin Water and Pirate s Booty and some other companies and started learning from him.
2
SPEAKER_01
And then from that came the opportunity to invest in body armor.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
Which we re drinking now.
2
SPEAKER_00
It s delicious.
2
SPEAKER_01
But all that came from the injury and really having to self-assess and face that really dark room of what comes next.
2
SPEAKER_00
Storytelling is something you re really passionate about.
2
SPEAKER_00
What s a story over your life that s been a constant theme that you go back to?
2
SPEAKER_00
Is there something you heard as a kid that really resonates with you, or a book, or a movie that just feels like, this is me?
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, that s funny.
2
SPEAKER_01
Movies, there are plenty.
2
SPEAKER_01
But there s a quote from one of my English teachers at Lower Marion named Mr. Fisk.
2
SPEAKER_01
He had a great quote that said, rest at the end, not in the middle.
2
SPEAKER_01
And that s something I always live by.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m not going to rest.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m going to keep on pushing now.
2
SPEAKER_01
There are a lot of answers that I don t have, even questions that I don t have.
2
SPEAKER_01
But I m just going to keep going.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m just going to keep going.
2
SPEAKER_01
And I ll figure these things out as I go.
2
SPEAKER_01
And you just continue to build that way.
2
SPEAKER_01
So I try to live by that all the time.
2
SPEAKER_00
Rest at the end.
2
SPEAKER_00
Rest at the end.
2
SPEAKER_00
What s the question that eats you alive the most that you haven t answered yet?
2
SPEAKER_01
The question that eats me alive that I haven t answered yet.
2
SPEAKER_01
That you re still looking for the answer.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m still looking for the answer.
2
SPEAKER_01
How to tell a good story.
2
SPEAKER_01
I don t think anybody has that answer.
2
SPEAKER_01
You know, like when I sat down to write Dear Basketball, I was like, okay, what do I want to say?
2
SPEAKER_01
And you have certain acts and how you can structure certain things, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
The ebbs and flows of story.
2
SPEAKER_01
Certain formulas that have been there since the beginning of time.
2
SPEAKER_01
But it s such an inexact.
2
SPEAKER_00
So challenging, yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
Right?
2
SPEAKER_01
And so that one question is really interesting.
2
SPEAKER_00
Why do you want to tell a great story?
2
SPEAKER_01
I think stories is what moves the world.
2
SPEAKER_01
Whether it s an inspirational story, or it s an informational one, nothing in this world moves without story.
2
SPEAKER_01
From the political world, sports world, nothing that we have moves without story.
2
SPEAKER_01
And so I think that is the root of everything.
2
SPEAKER_01
And if we re going to try to make the world a better place,
2
SPEAKER_01
Story is the right place to start.
2
SPEAKER_01
But most people don t understand.
2
SPEAKER_01
My last year, people would come up to me and say, OK, what are you going to do?
2
SPEAKER_01
I said, I m going to be a storyteller.
2
SPEAKER_01
Really?
2
SPEAKER_01
And they go, what are you talking about?
2
SPEAKER_01
All right, man.
2
SPEAKER_01
So what s going to happen when you retire is you re going to go through a week of depression.
2
SPEAKER_01
Then the second week is going to be denial and all that.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m like, dude, seriously, I m good.
2
SPEAKER_01
So after a while, I just got sick of it, and I just said, I don t know.
2
SPEAKER_01
I ll go play golf or something.
2
SPEAKER_00
Right.
2
SPEAKER_00
Just tell them a lie.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m not going to do anything.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ll mess with real estate.
2
SPEAKER_00
Whatever.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m not going to do anything.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m just going to sit around.
2
SPEAKER_00
What does losing feel like to you?
2
SPEAKER_00
It s exciting.
2
SPEAKER_00
Why is it exciting?
2
SPEAKER_01
Because it means you have different ways to get better.
2
SPEAKER_01
There are certain things that you can figure out that you can take advantage of, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
Certain weaknesses that were exposed that you need to shore up.
2
SPEAKER_01
Right?
2
SPEAKER_01
So it was exciting.
2
SPEAKER_01
I mean, it sucks to lose.
2
SPEAKER_00
Right.
2
SPEAKER_01
But at the same time, there are answers there if you just look at them.
2
SPEAKER_00
Because you get the information from losing more than from winning probably.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
I mean, the answers are there when you win, too.
2
SPEAKER_01
You just have to look at them.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
Right?
2
SPEAKER_01
So it s a constant process.
2
SPEAKER_01
It s exciting when you win.
2
SPEAKER_01
It s exciting when you lose because the process should be exactly the same whether you win or you lose.
2
SPEAKER_01
You go back and you look and you find things that you could have done better.
2
SPEAKER_01
You find things that you ve done well, that worked, and figure out how did they work, why did they work, and how can you make them work again?
2
SPEAKER_01
But the hardest thing is to face that stuff.
2
SPEAKER_01
That s a really, really tough challenge.
2
SPEAKER_00
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.
2
SPEAKER_01
I ll give you an example.
2
SPEAKER_01
So, Katie Lou Samuelson is one of the best college basketball players in the country.
2
SPEAKER_01
She plays at UConn, she s going to be a senior.
2
SPEAKER_00
Right now?
2
SPEAKER_01
Right now.
2
SPEAKER_01
And she s from Huntington Beach, out here by us, and so she comes down and she works with some of my girls on the team, and she helps coach.
2
SPEAKER_01
And they just had a really tough season last year where they lost to Notre Dame in the final.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s right.
2
SPEAKER_01
Really tough.
2
SPEAKER_01
First loss in like years, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
And so I asked her, I said, have you watched the Notre Dame game?
2
SPEAKER_01
She was like, no.
2
SPEAKER_01
I said, well, why not?
2
SPEAKER_01
She said, I don t want to watch that.
2
SPEAKER_01
I said, I know you don t, but you re going to play Notre Dame this year, yeah?
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
There s a chance that you see them again in the final.
2
SPEAKER_01
I said, well, you ll probably see them again.
2
SPEAKER_01
I said, well, you can t show up and play them without knowing why you lost that one, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
So, you know, the mistakes that you ve 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.
2
SPEAKER_01
So, she came down to the office.
2
SPEAKER_01
I brought her down to the office and we sat down and we watched that game together, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
You gotta deal with it.
2
SPEAKER_01
Face it.
2
SPEAKER_01
You gotta deal with it.
2
SPEAKER_01
Face it, learn from it.
2
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
2
SPEAKER_00
It must have been cringing for her to just be like, oh, replaying like we could have won, all these things.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s exactly it, isn t it?
2
SPEAKER_00
If I just did that one thing.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s exactly right.
2
SPEAKER_00
If I didn t get that foul, if I scored that layup.
2
SPEAKER_01
That s exactly right.
2
SPEAKER_01
You look at it and say, oh, there s the mismatch.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh, there s the gap.
2
SPEAKER_01
You know, and all those little things, and it sucks.
2
SPEAKER_01
But, but,
2
SPEAKER_01
You don t want to have that feeling again, do you?
2
SPEAKER_01
Right?
2
SPEAKER_01
So you got to really study it, face it.
2
SPEAKER_01
And not to say you ll win the next time you face it, but at least you ll give yourself a better chance.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
And did you, what was your routine and ritual like after every game?
2
SPEAKER_00
Would you watch almost every game over or certain games?
2
SPEAKER_00
All of them.
2
SPEAKER_00
Every game you watched?
2
SPEAKER_01
Every game.
2
SPEAKER_00
The whole game?
2
SPEAKER_01
The whole game.
2
SPEAKER_01
No way.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
So it started with me when I was a, when Phil Jackson s,
2
SPEAKER_01
His first year here with the Lakers, one of the assistant coaches, his name was Tex Winter, and I call him Yoda.
2
SPEAKER_01
I mean, he was like 82 when he got here.
2
SPEAKER_01
And he was responsible for teaching me the triangle offense.
2
SPEAKER_01
How old were you then?
2
SPEAKER_01
I was 21.
2
SPEAKER_01
So three years, four years in the league?
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, so about my fourth year in the league.
2
SPEAKER_01
And so I go up to his room, and this is when, there were no iPads or anything like that, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
So when you re on the road, yeah, you have to call down to the front desk, and they have to bring up the TV, with the whole, you know, the rolly thing, and the VHS, and the cassette tape, you pop it in.
2
SPEAKER_01
And I thought we were gonna watch what we call touches.
2
SPEAKER_01
So watch all your touches when you have the ball, all the decisions you make, good ones and bad.
2
SPEAKER_01
No, we re watching the start of the game to the end of the game.
2
SPEAKER_01
And not like, not like the TV feed.
2
SPEAKER_01
We re watching the in arena feed.
2
SPEAKER_01
The layup line, the timeouts.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh my gosh.
2
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
Rewinding, stopping, fast forward, rewinding, slow motion.
2
SPEAKER_01
Every little thing.
2
SPEAKER_01
Every game of that season.
2
SPEAKER_01
With the 82 year old Yoda.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh my gosh.
2
SPEAKER_01
Who is as brutally honest as you can get.
2
SPEAKER_01
What did that teach you that season?
2
SPEAKER_01
It taught me to look at detail.
2
SPEAKER_01
Look at things at their smallest.
2
SPEAKER_01
Look at body language.
2
SPEAKER_01
Look at the energy between players.
2
SPEAKER_01
Our team and the other team.
2
SPEAKER_01
Look at the tactics.
2
SPEAKER_01
Look at the overall strategy and look at how tactically things are manifesting themselves.
2
SPEAKER_01
And because I watched so much film, then it gave me the ability to see game in real time as if I was watching film.
2
SPEAKER_01
Wow.
2
SPEAKER_01
Where I can see bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop.
2
SPEAKER_01
Because a lot of times the game starts moving really fast.
2
SPEAKER_01
But if you train yourself to watch hours and hours of film, the game s not moving that fast anymore.
2
SPEAKER_01
You can really recognize who s doing what and why.
2
SPEAKER_01
Then you can position guys in the right places in real time.
2
SPEAKER_00
seeing it before it happens.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
We, you know, on football, we d watch it once a week game film, but not, you know, after every game, it was only one game a week.
2
SPEAKER_00
You got like three, three weeks.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
You gotta, you gotta go.
2
SPEAKER_00
I don t know.
2
SPEAKER_00
I know Tom Brady s obsessive over game from as well.
2
SPEAKER_00
I mean, watching his show that came out
3
SPEAKER_01
Thomas the time was all about him just in there studying even months after the game He s studying to prepare right?
3
SPEAKER_01
It s just like he s not stop and that s that s one of the keys you think it s like if you re not watching film Whether it be as a speaker on stage or a performer and a musician if you re not watching yourself back gotta learn man I mean Beyonce s same same thing really after a performance and
3
SPEAKER_00
She s immediately on her laptop re-watching the performance.
3
SPEAKER_00
No way.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yes, seeing how to do things better.
3
SPEAKER_00
What could we have done differently?
3
SPEAKER_00
It s an obsessiveness that comes along with it.
3
SPEAKER_00
You want things to be as perfect as they can be.
3
SPEAKER_00
Understanding that nothing is ever perfect.
3
SPEAKER_00
But the challenge is trying to get them as perfect as they can be.
3
SPEAKER_00
And what can you do?
3
SPEAKER_00
It s in your control.
3
SPEAKER_00
So control what you can.
3
SPEAKER_00
I can watch film all day long.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s gonna help me.
3
SPEAKER_01
Get better.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yes, yes.
3
SPEAKER_01
Now did you have your teammates also follow on this obsessiveness that you had as well?
3
SPEAKER_01
Or did you just encourage them or what was the?
3
SPEAKER_00
No, you can t push somebody to do that, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
But what you can do is alter behavior.
3
SPEAKER_00
and also change the vernacular of how they speak about the game.
3
SPEAKER_00
So on team buses, team planes, in a locker room after practice, I would look at the film, I d pull Powell, Lamar, DeFish, pull them aside and say, let s look at this.
3
SPEAKER_00
We probably should have done this, that, and the other.
3
SPEAKER_01
So you ll show them the game from a little bit here and there.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and then you speak to them in executional terms.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s never, come on guys, we can do better.
3
SPEAKER_00
Come on guys, we can do better.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s rah-rah stuff.
3
SPEAKER_00
The leader must give very tactical things that we can do, adjustments.
3
SPEAKER_00
Okay, the defense is doing this, that, and the other, that means we should probably do this, this, this, that, and the other.
3
SPEAKER_00
By midway through the season, through that behavior, you start seeing them communicating the same way back to you.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it s like, okay, Cole, they re doing this, that, and the other to you, maybe we should do this, that, and the other.
3
SPEAKER_00
You re like, okay, yeah, awesome, great, let s do it.
3
SPEAKER_01
What about season 16, 17, 18?
3
SPEAKER_01
Are you still watching every game filmed as obsessively as the first 10 years?
3
SPEAKER_00
Not now, no.
3
SPEAKER_00
Well, when I was playing.
3
SPEAKER_00
When you were playing, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
So when I was playing, what I would do is study the film, but study our younger players and see what areas do they need to develop in and how can I help them develop.
3
SPEAKER_00
I mean, that was the big challenge is you move from, you know,
3
SPEAKER_00
being the single dominant player to understanding, OK, I have to help these other guys.
3
SPEAKER_01
How do I lift everyone else up?
3
SPEAKER_01
It s tough.
3
SPEAKER_01
I mean, you were so dominant your whole career.
3
SPEAKER_01
one of the greatest of all time, was there a weakness that you had?
3
SPEAKER_01
Or did you, because obviously you were always trying to master your weaknesses so they became your strengths, but did you, at the end, or towards the end, did you ever feel like, gosh, I still haven t mastered this one part of the game?
3
SPEAKER_00
The challenge for me was always compassion and empathy.
3
SPEAKER_00
Because you re like, guys, let s go, get results, shut up, don t complain, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
I don t want to hear your whining.
3
SPEAKER_00
I don t want to hear it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Don t tell me.
3
SPEAKER_00
No excuses.
3
SPEAKER_00
Don t tell me how rough the water is, just bring the boat in.
3
SPEAKER_00
You know, I don t want to hear it.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it s understanding, like, okay, these guys have lives outside of here.
3
SPEAKER_01
They have other things happening.
3
SPEAKER_00
They have other things happening to them that may be affecting the way that they re practicing or the way that they re performing.
3
SPEAKER_00
And it was hard for me to understand that because nothing bothered me.
3
SPEAKER_00
Anything personal, anything like that never fazed me when I played.
3
SPEAKER_00
You compartmentalized it.
3
SPEAKER_00
Very well.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I couldn t understand how my teammates couldn t do that either.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I had to really work on
3
SPEAKER_00
That aspect of it.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s hard.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, it is.
3
SPEAKER_01
So do you feel like you never really had the compassion you wish you would have had?
3
SPEAKER_01
Like until the last maybe couple of years?
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, so I think about 09, things started changing for me.
3
SPEAKER_00
I started really making a conscious effort to better understand.
3
SPEAKER_00
And that doesn t mean, I mean, you have compassion and empathy, so you go softer on them.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s more like you put yourself to the side and you put yourself in their shoes and understand what they re feeling.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then you have to make certain decisions of, okay, what buttons do I need to push for this player to get them to the next level?
3
SPEAKER_00
So it s never, it s not sit around and all, it s all happy-go-lucky type of thing.
3
SPEAKER_00
Your leader, your job is to get the best out of them.
3
SPEAKER_00
even if they may not like it at that time.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, wow.
3
SPEAKER_00
What are you most proud of from your 20 seasons?
3
SPEAKER_00
Honestly, it sounds...
3
SPEAKER_00
May sound a little shallow, but I gotta say beating the Celtics in game seven.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s what I m most proud of.
3
SPEAKER_00
Why?
3
SPEAKER_00
Because it was the hardest.
3
SPEAKER_00
You know, you re playing with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and you know, it was myself, Powell, and the players that other teams didn t want.
3
SPEAKER_00
And, you know, how do we figure out as a group what to do?
3
SPEAKER_00
And the reason why I love that series so much is that we went down three games to two against Boston.
3
SPEAKER_00
And now you got two games coming home.
3
SPEAKER_00
I remember sitting in the locker room and they beat the crap out of us to that game.
3
SPEAKER_00
So we re sitting in the locker room and it s really, really quiet.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m sitting there looking around and we just lost to Celtics in 08.
3
SPEAKER_00
So this is like revenge, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
And they re kicking our butt again, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
So I sit around and I just started laughing.
3
SPEAKER_00
I started laughing and then I remember Derrick Fisher looked at me like, and Lamar looked at me and goes, what is funny?
3
SPEAKER_00
I said, dude, they beat the crap out of us.
3
SPEAKER_00
They just beat the crap out.
3
SPEAKER_00
I said, I m missing the part where that s funny.
3
SPEAKER_00
I said, man, listen, if we start this season and they say, you know, all you have to do is win two games at home and you re an NBA champ, would you take that?
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
Right.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s all we got to do.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
Go home, win two.
3
SPEAKER_00
We re NBA champions.
3
SPEAKER_00
All we got to do is win two games in a row.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s it.
3
SPEAKER_00
We ll take care of the first game.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I promise you, they re not winning game seven on our home floor.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s not happening.
3
SPEAKER_00
So we all just laughed about it.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then we went out and we figured it out.
3
SPEAKER_00
But that game seven was, we re down 15 points in the fourth quarter.
3
SPEAKER_00
Right.
3
SPEAKER_00
And that s when you have to collectively look at each other and say, you know, the spirit of your team must be good.
3
SPEAKER_00
Because at that moment is when teams fracture.
3
SPEAKER_00
If the energy amongst each other isn t there, that trust isn t there, you re done.
3
SPEAKER_00
And we were able to collectively dig deep together and say, all right, we re going to figure this thing out.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I wasn t playing well.
3
SPEAKER_00
I wasn t shooting the ball well at all.
3
SPEAKER_00
And so my teammates picked you up and they delivered.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yes.
3
SPEAKER_01
Wow.
3
SPEAKER_01
Gosh, man.
3
SPEAKER_01
I want to be respectful of your time.
3
SPEAKER_01
I know we ve got only probably like five to seven minutes left.
3
SPEAKER_01
I saw on Instagram that you re up at like 4 a.m.
3
SPEAKER_01
lifting by yourself in the dark.
3
SPEAKER_01
And again, you ve had one of the most incredible careers arguably of all time.
3
SPEAKER_01
you know, made all the money in the world, got a friggin  Oscar now, 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 a.m.
3
SPEAKER_01
working out, and you just turned 40, right?
3
SPEAKER_01
Congratulations, by the way.
3
SPEAKER_01
I hope I look as good as you.
3
SPEAKER_01
Why still wake up that early and train at this level in your life right now?
3
SPEAKER_00
Well, I mean, there s several factors for that.
3
SPEAKER_00
Like, when I first retired, I let myself go a little bit.
3
SPEAKER_00
Really?
3
SPEAKER_00
You got a little... Oh, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
Oh, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
You got a little chubby life?
3
SPEAKER_00
It was awesome.
3
SPEAKER_00
You enjoyed everything?
3
SPEAKER_00
Oh, man, I m eating... What?
3
SPEAKER_00
That was well, man.
3
SPEAKER_00
Bring it to me.
3
SPEAKER_00
Let s go.
3
SPEAKER_00
Steak?
3
SPEAKER_00
Oh, let s go.
3
SPEAKER_00
Right?
3
SPEAKER_00
Milkshakes?
3
SPEAKER_00
Ice cream?
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, man.
3
SPEAKER_00
Let s do it.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then the challenge was, okay, can I get back in shape?
3
SPEAKER_00
And it s really hard because there s no end goal.
3
SPEAKER_00
There s no game.
3
SPEAKER_01
There s no season.
3
SPEAKER_01
So how do you motivate yourself to do it?
3
SPEAKER_00
How do you?
3
SPEAKER_00
And so for me, it was like, okay, I have to aim for something.
3
SPEAKER_00
So I said, I want to aim for size.
3
SPEAKER_00
I want to aim for bulk, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
So that s a tangible thing.
3
SPEAKER_00
I m going to go for that, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
But then also it s, you know, my children, because like, you know, your kids can t see how hard you work.
3
SPEAKER_00
You go to the office, I come to the studio, they don t really see the effort, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
So how can we teach our children what it means to work hard?
3
SPEAKER_00
Well, you do it through training, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
So when I get up in the morning, my daughter goes with me.
3
SPEAKER_01
4 a.m.?
3
SPEAKER_00
4 a.m., my 15-year-old goes with me.
3
SPEAKER_00
She goes with me before school and it becomes a daddy-daughter thing.
3
SPEAKER_00
That s cool.
3
SPEAKER_00
She just got her permit, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
So she drives in the morning, it becomes a cool thing, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
But through that process, she understands the value of hard work.
3
SPEAKER_00
and things taking time.
3
SPEAKER_00
And the same thing with my 12-year-old, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
She practices every day, right?
3
SPEAKER_00
And so it s through those behaviors is where I find the motivation to do it.
3
SPEAKER_00
And what brings you the most joy right now?
3
SPEAKER_00
Being with my family.
3
SPEAKER_00
Really?
3
SPEAKER_00
That is, man, that is the most fun.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s just, you know, it s hanging out with them all summer, being able to, like, do things that I ordinarily couldn t do.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_00
Because of training, because of season, stuff like that.
3
SPEAKER_00
So being around them and watching Bianca grow up, because there are a lot of things that I miss with Natalia and Gianna because I was playing.
3
SPEAKER_00
So being there every day with them is so much fun, man.
3
SPEAKER_00
So it brings me the most joy.
3
SPEAKER_01
That s amazing.
3
SPEAKER_01
And what does love feel like for you?
3
SPEAKER_00
What does love feel like?
3
SPEAKER_00
Hmm.
4
SPEAKER_00
Happiness is such a, I don t really think I would describe love as happiness.
4
SPEAKER_00
I think I d describe it as a beautiful journey.
4
SPEAKER_00
It has its ups and downs, whether it s in marriage or whether it s in the career.
4
SPEAKER_00
You know, things are never perfect.
4
SPEAKER_00
But through love, you continue to persevere.
4
SPEAKER_00
And you move through them.
4
SPEAKER_00
You move through them.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then through that storm, beautiful sun emerges.
4
SPEAKER_00
And inevitably, another storm comes.
4
SPEAKER_00
And guess what?
4
SPEAKER_00
You ride that one out too.
4
SPEAKER_00
So I think love is a certain determination and persistence to go through the good times and the bad times with the someone or something that you truly love.
4
SPEAKER_01
You ve got a new podcast out right now called The Punies, which I started listening to.
4
SPEAKER_01
I ve listened to the first two episodes, it s incredible.
4
SPEAKER_01
They re like 13 to 15 minute episodic storytelling cartoons, I guess, for kids.
4
SPEAKER_01
And the thing I love about it the most is it s funny, it s entertaining, there s original music, there s all these different characters.
4
SPEAKER_01
You re teaching history in a fun way.
4
SPEAKER_01
Which I like the last one where it s like, you know, we we talk about history So we don t repeat it right in our own lives and then you teach the lessons about overcoming failure for kids and insecurities and challenges We re facing and I think it s beautiful.
4
SPEAKER_01
Can you talk about the punies in the podcast and what it s all about?
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, so the punies Came to me from you know, we have our family tradition.
4
SPEAKER_00
We watch the Sandlot every 4th of July
4
SPEAKER_00
Greatest movie, man, in the summer?
4
SPEAKER_00
It s the greatest, it s the greatest.
4
SPEAKER_00
Squinting, yeah, yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
Oh my gosh, s mores, baby.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s the best thing, dude, c mon.
4
SPEAKER_00
Give me s mores.
4
SPEAKER_00
So, like, that s our family ritual.
4
SPEAKER_00
Oh my gosh.
4
SPEAKER_00
Every Fourth of July.
4
SPEAKER_00
Sandlot.
4
SPEAKER_00
Sandlot, right?
4
SPEAKER_00
And so, after watching the Sandlot movie, I was like, we need a new sports movie like this, right?
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
So I started kind of concepting ideas and stuff.
4
SPEAKER_00
But nothing I truly loved.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then, over Thanksgiving, our other ritual was to watch Charlie Brown.
4
SPEAKER_00
Uh-huh, sure.
4
SPEAKER_00
Right, in the pumpkin patch, right?
4
SPEAKER_00
So, we watched that, and then I go,
4
SPEAKER_00
Whoa, wait a minute.
4
SPEAKER_00
Let s just put those together.
4
SPEAKER_00
Put those together, right?
4
SPEAKER_00
And I already had written some stories, individual stories, for Puny Pete and Bebe.
4
SPEAKER_00
Two of the characters in the Punys.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I said, well, let s combine those.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then from that, that s when the Punys started coming to fruition.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I started thinking about the characters.
4
SPEAKER_00
you know, why does this show need to exist, and where are some of the deeper messages that can be there that consciously you may not observe, but you can sense and feel, and that s when I started constructing the show.
4
SPEAKER_01
And are you part of the whole process?
4
SPEAKER_01
Are you helping write the script?
4
SPEAKER_01
Are you helping
4
SPEAKER_00
So we have a great young producer here who actually started here three years ago while he was still at SC.
4
SPEAKER_00
And has since grown into a position.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s the greatest film school.
4
SPEAKER_00
Greatest film school.
4
SPEAKER_00
And so he and I worked together hand-in-hand on outlining every single episode.
4
SPEAKER_00
So we outlined each episode, the story beats, and then we found a great writer named John Holler.
4
SPEAKER_00
He s a great writer.
4
SPEAKER_00
And so we gave him the outline and he just
4
SPEAKER_00
made it 1,000 times better.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then I directed each episode.
4
SPEAKER_01
You oversee it all?
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I directed it.
4
SPEAKER_00
So the other challenge was finding great actors.
4
SPEAKER_00
Voice acting is a different skill.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yes, it s a challenging art form.
4
SPEAKER_00
You really have to be able to communicate a lot just through your voice.
4
SPEAKER_00
An essence, an energy with your voice, yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
And so the trick was finding actors that have not lost that childlike quality.
4
SPEAKER_00
They can still imagine themselves being children, being at the park, and playing.
4
SPEAKER_00
And once we found them, they really brought the characters to life, and now here we are with the Punies, man.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s amazing.
4
SPEAKER_01
I want you guys to go download it right now, subscribe.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s the Punies on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, anywhere podcasts are at.
4
SPEAKER_01
I m telling you guys, there s a lot of parents who listen to this show.
4
SPEAKER_01
Download this, listen to it in your car, and do me a favor, take a video of your kids in the car, and send it to me, tag me on Instagram, tag Kobe on Instagram, Coach Kobe Bryant.
4
SPEAKER_01
That s what s gonna give you great feedback.
4
SPEAKER_00
Oh gosh, that would be amazing.
4
SPEAKER_01
Seeing how kids react, so put your phone, again, don t film and drive, do it when you have someone else filming it, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
But make sure, or put it on a GoPro and just press record.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s about 15 minutes long, take your kids to school.
4
SPEAKER_00
Take them to the park, too.
4
SPEAKER_00
We made them on Saturdays.
4
SPEAKER_00
Every Saturday is a new episode because Saturday is normally the day us parents drive our kids to different sporting events.
4
SPEAKER_00
To the pool, to the games, to the park.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yes, that s why every episode has to be between 12 to 15, 16 minutes, right?
4
SPEAKER_00
Because that s normally the drive.
4
SPEAKER_00
Sometimes it may be longer, and in that case you can play multiple episodes.
4
SPEAKER_00
That s something you can listen to on your way to an event.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s like mini Frozen and Moana episodes, right?
4
SPEAKER_01
It s like little, with original music and all that stuff.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s really cool.
4
SPEAKER_01
Go download it.
4
SPEAKER_01
Again, take a video and tag Kobe on Instagram.
4
SPEAKER_01
Are you on Instagram a lot yourself?
4
SPEAKER_00
I am on Instagram, yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
Tag him.
4
SPEAKER_00
Especially Lily s Lemonade.
4
SPEAKER_00
Listen to Lily s Lemonade.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I would love to see kids out there trying to do the Lily s Lemonade song.
4
SPEAKER_01
Love it.
4
SPEAKER_01
Hopefully we ll get a bunch of video clips for you.
4
SPEAKER_01
And your book is out in October.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s called Mamba Mindset.
4
SPEAKER_01
Do you want to talk briefly about that?
4
SPEAKER_00
Well, the Mentality book is really about process and craft.
4
SPEAKER_00
I ve broken the book up into two sections.
4
SPEAKER_00
And process is really about the process of preparing.
4
SPEAKER_00
You know, through injury, recovery, studying of the game.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then the craft is the actual performance and the tactics.
4
SPEAKER_00
And so a lot of things that I learned through the game were through photos.
4
SPEAKER_00
You can look at a photo and see like a player making a move or look at the angle of his feet.
4
SPEAKER_00
Look how he s using his hands on defense.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I can really break down things to the smallest detail through that.
4
SPEAKER_00
And that s what you ll see in this book.
4
SPEAKER_00
I mean, it s really a basketball Bible.
4
SPEAKER_01
But it s also your mindset Bible, right?
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
But you see how I break things down, like how I m looking at things at the smallest of detail.
4
SPEAKER_00
And that s the best way to understand how to have that kind of mentality is to ask questions, then find answers.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then that leads to more questions, and you find more answers.
4
SPEAKER_00
And that s what the book is.
4
SPEAKER_01
I love it.
4
SPEAKER_01
Make sure you guys get the book.
4
SPEAKER_01
You can pre-order it right now.
4
SPEAKER_01
Download the punies.
4
SPEAKER_01
Follow you on social media.
4
SPEAKER_01
The final question is, what s your definition of greatness?
4
SPEAKER_00
I think the definition of greatness is to inspire the people next to you.
4
SPEAKER_00
I think that s what greatness is or should be.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s not something that lives and dies with one person.
4
SPEAKER_00
It s how can you inspire a person to then in turn inspire another person that then inspires another person.
4
SPEAKER_00
And that s how you create something that I think lasts forever.
4
SPEAKER_00
And I think that s our challenge as people, is to figure out how our story can impact others and motivate them in a way to create their own greatness.
4
SPEAKER_01
Well, I want to acknowledge you again, man, for the inspiration.
4
SPEAKER_01
You re just a symbol of truth and inspiration to so many people.
4
SPEAKER_01
Thanks, man.
4
SPEAKER_01
And I just appreciate you as a human.
4
SPEAKER_01
Appreciate it, man.
4
SPEAKER_01
Thanks, man.
4
SPEAKER_01
Appreciate it, brother.
4
SPEAKER_01
Thank you so much for watching this interview of Kobe Bryant.
4
SPEAKER_01
Again, he brought such a mentality to the game of basketball, but also he brought so much love to life.
4
SPEAKER_01
And it s so incredible to see the stories, to hear the lessons of people who have been impacted by Kobe Bryant.
4
SPEAKER_01
I only got to meet Kobe once.
4
SPEAKER_01
We messaged a few times on social media, but I didn t know him like most people.
4
SPEAKER_01
However, I got to experience him before and after this interview in a way that I found really inspiring and uplifting.
4
SPEAKER_01
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,
4
SPEAKER_01
And sometimes people don t treat you the same way that Kobe does.
4
SPEAKER_01
And my experience was profound in the way that he was so busy the entire day.
4
SPEAKER_01
He had interview after interview all day, but he wanted to really take the time and ask me questions.
4
SPEAKER_01
What I m going to do is share some bonus footage, about five minutes of never before seen video of Kobe interacting with me before and after this interview.
4
SPEAKER_01
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.
4
SPEAKER_01
But with AI, we were able to capture more of the audio.
4
SPEAKER_01
And that s why I wanted to share it with you today in this video.
4
SPEAKER_01
Now, before I share this bonus content, which for me was just really inspiring to watch and rewatch, I m going to share with you what that is and my reaction to it.
4
SPEAKER_01
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.
4
SPEAKER_01
Again, I didn t know him well.
4
SPEAKER_01
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.
4
SPEAKER_01
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.
4
SPEAKER_01
And again,
5
SPEAKER_00
Kobe inspired me in that moment.
5
SPEAKER_00
And that has been lasting for years after his passing and so many people around the world.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s about the value you add to each individual.
5
SPEAKER_00
That s what it s really about.
5
SPEAKER_00
He also talked about the power of unconditional love is
5
SPEAKER_00
giving you the permission to fail.
5
SPEAKER_00
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.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I just think that s so powerful.
5
SPEAKER_00
In today s world, there s so much pressure on people to perform, to get results and deliver, especially parents with their kids.
5
SPEAKER_00
And to hear that he had that type of relationship with his father and he felt loved no matter whether he won or lost.
5
SPEAKER_00
It gave him permission to fail.
5
SPEAKER_00
He talked about the power of the fundamentals and 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.
5
SPEAKER_00
Now, Kobe wasn t a champion overnight.
5
SPEAKER_00
He spent years
5
SPEAKER_00
decades honing his craft until he became a champion of the world.
5
SPEAKER_00
And he worked on the fundamentals.
5
SPEAKER_00
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 fundamentals over and over again, the faster we will go in life.
5
SPEAKER_00
He talked about losing being exciting.
5
SPEAKER_00
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.
5
SPEAKER_00
And whenever I saw him lose, it didn t seem like he was having a lot of fun.
5
SPEAKER_00
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?
5
SPEAKER_00
And when you make losing exciting,
5
SPEAKER_00
it doesn t discourage you to try and give your best effort.
5
SPEAKER_00
You re able to fully commit to the thing that you love and you re passionate about, whether you win or lose.
5
SPEAKER_00
And the more you fully commit, the more likely you will succeed and win in that process.
5
SPEAKER_00
I really love that.
5
SPEAKER_00
He talked about storytelling.
5
SPEAKER_00
I just thought this was fascinating that Kobe Bryant is talking about storytelling.
5
SPEAKER_00
He said this is the way we change the world.
5
SPEAKER_00
He said in the interview that nothing moves without story.
5
SPEAKER_00
He was working on this with Dear Basketball and his book and the punies podcast, which is what we were interviewing him for in this episode.
5
SPEAKER_00
And he was always talking about how to inspire someone through story.
5
SPEAKER_00
And that s how you change the world.
5
SPEAKER_00
I just thought this is so cool that this basketball player was much more than an athlete.
5
SPEAKER_00
He was a storyteller on and off the court.
5
SPEAKER_00
And one of the things that I really enjoyed the most from this interview was him talking about family, him talking about love.
5
SPEAKER_00
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.
5
SPEAKER_00
He talked about love, whether it s for a person, for a career, or for a sport.
5
SPEAKER_00
He says that things are never perfect, but it s the ability to persevere through the ups and downs that matter the most.
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And that spending time with his family brings him the most joy.
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And for me, at this season of my life, it reminds me about what s really important.
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And I don t have children yet, but it makes me want to have children faster.
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to create that experience, that love, that joy.
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And it just was so inspiring for me to witness this.
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Now, those were just a few of the many lessons.
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There was an incredible story that actually happened before the interview that I ll share in the future sometime.
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But I wanted to get to the bonus footage.
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Now, again, the reason this content wasn t out there originally is because
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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
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Tiffany, who was working on the audio at a certain point in this video because we weren t able to get the mics to work.
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So we are picking it up from the camera from a distance, but we couldn t really hear it before.
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And now with AI, it s able to pick it up pretty well.
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We also added subtitles here.
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So I want to play a video right when I sat down with Kobe, there was a couple minutes of us talking that we had a beautiful moment sharing some stories.
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But then we started to record.
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And this is what you re going to see right before we go into this full interview.
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So here are the first four minutes of never-before-seen footage and experience of just connecting with him.
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And I m going to react to this video because you re going to see, again, like I said before, a lot of people on a big level who ve succeeded like Kobe don t act the way he does.
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in this video.
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So I want to play this.
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I m going to pause it.
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I m going to react at a few different times, but I just thought it was really cool.
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So let s watch this bonus footage together right now.
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So this is called the School of Greatness.
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We interview the world s greatest leaders in business, sports.
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I was a former professional football player and transitioned into business.
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And I play with the USA national handball team.
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I don t know if you know team handball.
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Yeah, I do.
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So I play with the USA team.
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We haven t qualified for the Olympics since 96.
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So we ve still been, it s kind of a side hobby, which I haven t played in a while.
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And I know you re legendary for your Olympics and how much you can give to the other athletes there.
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So it s really cool to hear those stories.
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I grew up playing handball.
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Handball was big in Italy.
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Big in Europe.
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Massive.
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It was huge in Europe.
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Massive.
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So handball was like a part of our daily routine.
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So in gym class, we played handball.
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Right, it s a big thing, man.
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You go to handball, professional handball games, man.
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Those things are sold, oh yeah.
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It s huge, 20,000 people.
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It s like a soccer game indoors, yeah.
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Spain, Germany, they re all big sports.
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Is there anything, any questions you have for me before we start?
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Now, this is interesting because usually when you re sitting down for an interview and you re starting to connect with someone across the other side of the table with you or wherever you are, I ll ask these same questions.
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And most people just say, no, I m good to go.
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Let s get started.
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But Kobe starts engaging with me.
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So I ask him, do you have any questions for me?
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That s what I ask everyone.
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And most people say, no, I m good.
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Let s go.
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Because they want to get into the interview.
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They want to talk about themselves.
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But this is what I thought was cool right here.
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Well, I mean, just the transition.
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I mean, that s always tough for athletes, right?
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To make that transition.
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So it s always important for us to learn from each other and how you made the transition.
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Because there s some cases out there that are popular.
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And so Michael Strahan, there s some guys who have been able to say,
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A lot of guys don t.
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98% go broke a couple years.
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Not only go broke financially, but broke emotionally, spiritually.
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Lucas, I m curious.
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Again, Kobe s asking me a question.
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He s asking me about my transition from sports into life.
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He s giving examples.
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He asked two questions here.
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He s diving in and asking me questions when he s only supposed to give me 20 minutes for this interview.
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Again, his team
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is telling me you ve got 20 minutes.
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There are only so many things that you can t talk about that you can talk about.
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Other people are setting up production and another side of the office.
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He s back to back to back interviews promoting a podcast called the punies all day.
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He is I m the first one to go for that day and he is stacked for the rest of the day.
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And they re like, you ve got 20 minutes.
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And he s already giving me time, because he s being gracious, because our audio wasn t able to get sorted out.
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For whatever reason, the audio wasn t working, even though we tested it right before.
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So he s being gracious, he s, he s being present with me, he s being connected, he s not getting frustrated or angry or rushing this process.
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He s not saying, hey, you don t have this figured out.
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when there was some big production setting up just 20, 30 feet away, we were trying to figure it out and get things set up on remote location at his studios.
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Again, you see this is his office.
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You see the famous Black Mamba painting right above there, which I thought was pretty cool, just representing him well.
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But he s asking me questions.
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Most people didn t ask me questions.
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This was five years ago.
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My show wasn t as big.
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I wasn t as well known.
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I didn t have the audience, the size that I had now.
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But he is engaging with me and asking me questions again.
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You re here The audio is a little bit off here because we had to read Reclaim it from AI and try to optimize it, but you ll see the subtitles, but he s asking me questions.
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He s interested in me He s games with me telling about growing up playing handball in Italy watching handball He s he s relating to me where most people just want to talk to themselves
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about themselves.
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And I just thought, what a classy move.
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What a classy guy to really he doesn t know me.
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He has no clue who I am or what I m up to.
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But what a classy guy to give that time to give me the energy and the thought process to ask me,
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What s going on with you?
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How did you transition?
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And again, I wasn t a huge pro athlete.
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I didn t make millions of dollars.
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I was making $250 a week playing arena football.
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So I wasn t like some big athlete that was hard for me to transition.
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It was like, I was just a younger athlete trying to figure it out.
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I didn t have his credibility as an athlete either, but he was still curious, how did you do it?
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How did you overcome that?
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And I m just like, I thought this is fascinating.
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I was on my sister s couch for a year and a half after football.
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I got injured, I broke my wrist.
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I was in a full-on cast from here to here for six months.
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I was playing arena football, so I didn t make the NFL.
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I was on my way up.
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I was only making $250 a week, so I was just playing to go up the game and get paid a little bit.
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It wasn t until about
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Six, eight months in, when I started really reaching out to mentors, I said, OK, I need to learn the sport of life.
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Because all I knew was sports.
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I didn t do well in school.
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I struggled all throughout school.
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It took me seven years to graduate college.
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It just took a while.
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And so I said, how can I recreate my life as a sport?
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And so I started reaching out.
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I was like, I need great coaches.
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I need to structure my day as like an athlete.
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And so I just have everything detailed out on a schedule.
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I get very clear what my seasonal goal is.
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And I just reverse engineer, just like an athlete does, you know, in football, we would get together the first day of, um, now when I m watching this batch, I m kind of like, man, I m speaking too much.
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I need to be asking him questions.
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I m watching myself.
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I m like, why am I speaking?
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Why am I telling my story in front of Kobe Bryant when.
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I only have 20 minutes with him.
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I should be asking him questions.
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But that was the thing.
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When I m watching this back, you can see his eye contact with me.
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You see his energy.
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He s present with me.
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He s relaxed.
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He was calm.
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Again, this is the first time he met me a few minutes before this.
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And he had the busiest schedule.
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He just won the Oscar a few months prior to this.
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Five NBA championships.
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I mean, he was a machine.
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He was crushing it in all areas of life.
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He was thriving in every area.
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And here he is focused, present, connected, engaging, curious, asking questions to me.
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And I m just like, not a lot of people at this level do this.
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And you leave a mark on people based on essentially something that lasts forever, something that they can remember that will last forever.
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That was one of the messages he had in this interview.
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the power of the fundamentals.
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He s just being an engaging human being when he really doesn t have that much to gain from this interaction with me.
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And again, I feel like bad because I m just rambling here telling my story, but I m also knowing that our audio isn t set up yet.
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So I m trying to, you know, extend my time a little bit because we don t have the audio ready for us to start the episode, but he s being nice and I m just like, okay, how can I make this happen?
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But let s see what else I say.
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in the locker room, and the coach would say, what s our goal for the season?
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Let s figure it out, put it up on the chalkboard, okay, and then let s break it down weekly, and then daily, and then positions, and that s just what I do now.
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To the end of the movies, you edit everything accordingly.
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That s it, yeah, that s it.
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That s brilliant.
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Most athletes can t do that, though.
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It s a large transit, which took me a couple of years.
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He s still, he s just still adding to the conversation.
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Most athletes don t do that.
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He s not saying, okay, you re ready to go yet.
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Let s hurry up.
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He s not doing that.
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He s just being present, being in the moment, being engaged, you know, going with the flow to really figure it out.
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Cause I never made money really before.
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And audio.
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Okay.
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I never made money before.
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Really, I was 25.
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I wasn t an entrepreneur, but I had to really learn how to add value to the world and how to package it and sell it.
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But I didn t know how to.
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I didn t know how to.
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Nobody does.
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That s the thing.
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That s the thing.
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You re figuring it out now, right?
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It s like, you know, I m screwed at work.
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Go to school, that s the stuff.
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School will teach you how to do it.
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Yeah, exactly.
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That s it.
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That s it.
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That s it.
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Yeah.
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And hopefully when you get stuck in quicksand, there s somebody out there that s on French.
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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That s why I think it s having powerful mentors and coaches with you along the way is what s important.
6
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Can t do it alone.
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Can t do it alone.
6
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It s certainly a lot of people out there that you re a part of.
6
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Absolutely.
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And my intention for this is to make this the most inspiring interview you ve ever done.
6
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Just letting you know my intention.
6
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Awesome.
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but to tell your story in a beautiful, powerful way so that people are inspired to take action on the podcast you have, to take action on anything that you care.
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And also, we sell a ton of books.
6
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So I want to mention your book, because it s coming out in October, I think, right?
6
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Yeah.
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Which I think is going to be a huge hit.
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So I m excited for that.
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So I want to kind of use this to promote the podcast, the book, and then anything else that you re excited about or happy to go there.
6
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Awesome, man.
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Let s do it.
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Audio s good.
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All right.
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there you have it so that was kind of the that was four minutes for a little over four minutes before we just sat down right before then just shook his hand and said hey kobe thanks so much and let s sit down and um and that was that interaction because we didn t have the mic set up again we had like a couple of cameras a couple of lav mics it was we usually did it at my apartment uh but this was a couple hours away at his studio so we brought
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you know, our equipment there, we just didn t have it all set up or there was a glitch.
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But it allowed me to have these extra moments with him before the interview.
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And also, right after that, you know, I was only supposed to do it for 20 minutes.
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And this interview went for 40 minutes, because Kobe was like, you know what, let s keep talking.
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Let s keep going.
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He was so generous with his time with me, when his team was like, hey, you got to cut it off.
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But he was like, you know, it s all good.
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Like, I m really having a great conversation.
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I love talking about this.
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I love talking about greatness.
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And he is the definition of greatness on how he lived his life and how he showed up for his teammates and how he excelled in so many different areas.
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And I just thought that was really cool.
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So this other clip right here is a shorter clip.
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It s right when the episode ends.
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I want to show you kind of the behind the scenes afterward, which again, I just felt like was so cool to watch.
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looking back at it now, recovering this footage, because I ve done over 1,500 episodes.
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I ve met a lot of interesting, inspiring, successful people.
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You learn a lot about someone, about how they treat you and the team around you, when there s nothing in it for them.
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So watch what happens here.
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Amazing.
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Dude, I wish I could interview you for like three hours.
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So much good stuff there.
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Thanks, man.
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Thanks.
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We ll just do a couple quick photos and then get you in, because I know you got to run, so.
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Thank you.
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Dude, that was amazing.
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My audience is gonna love this.
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Dude, you re great, man.
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I appreciate it, man.
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That is cool.
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That is cool right there.
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Again, a lot of times people finish and then they re out of there.
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Kobe went to me, gave me a handshake, gave me a hug.
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He said, hey man, thanks so much.
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And then he went to the two people on my team and he shook both their hands before leaving.
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And I just thought, you may not think that s a big deal, but most people don t do that.
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Most people at his level don t do that.
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And they don t treat everyone the same way.
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Again, he s telling a story by doing that.
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I m still telling his story.
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I just spoke at a conference in Mexico in front of almost 2000 people telling the story.
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of my experience with him before this interview and what I got to witness, which was so powerful.
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And just these little moments, someone at that level to treat someone, look them in the eyes, ask them questions, connect with everyone around them.
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It s just a really special thing.
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So
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So many powerful lessons.
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I d love to hear your greatest lesson from this interview in the comments below.
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Leave a comment on how Kobe inspired you, the greatest impact he had on you by watching him or being a fan of his.
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And again, what was unexpected for you?
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Any comment or inspiration that you have.
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Let me know in the comments below.
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Thank you so much for watching this video, for consuming this interview, and for watching this behind the scenes content, which I just feel like was so cool to experience as someone who is interviewing him.
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And, you know, Kobe continues to inspire and leave a legacy for so many people around the world through his story and the things that he created.
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And I m just so grateful that I got to have that experience to interview him.
6
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And I hope you gain something, some value from this interview and this conversation as well.
6
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I want to remind you, if no one has told you lately that you are loved, you re worthy, and you matter, and make sure to go out there and do something great.
6
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I hope today s episode inspired you on your journey towards greatness.
6
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Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a rundown of today s show with all the important links.
6
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And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me as well as ad free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our greatness plus channel on
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Apple podcast.
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If you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend over on social media or text a friend.
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Leave us a review over on Apple podcast and let me know what you learned over on our social media channels at Lewis Howes.
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I really love hearing the feedback from you and it helps us continue to make the show better.
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And if you want more inspiration from our world-class guests and content to learn how to improve the quality of your life, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness Newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.
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And if no one has told you today, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter.
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And now it s time to go out there and do something great.