You know it's about to be a sad one when you have to write about someone in the past tense. Another unbelievable talent gone too soon. Kobe Bryant tragically passed away in a helicopter crash in 2020, aged 41, with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. He was more than just a phenomenal basketball player and the Los Angeles Lakers superstar. Bryant was the "Girl Dad," a husband, writer, producer, philanthropist, and a truly inspirational figure for many.
Although The Black Mamba left us far too soon, he profoundly impacted basketball, culture, and the entire world. Two years before his death, Kobe wrote his first book, a basketball memoir, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play. In the book, he shared his personal perspective on life and career and his insightful playing style. However, not only his Mamba mentality was put into words and typed out. Derived from plenty of interviews, public messages, and presumably from his book, many Kobe Bryant quotes, both motivational and uplifting, serve as an inspiration for many people worldwide.
Kobe Bryant's inspirational quotes show the tenacity, ambition, and drive that made him an icon and a hero for many. Among the many motivational quotes, Kobe will forever be remembered for all he contributed to the basketball community, the city of LA, his family, and the entire world, really. Although Kobe Bryant's passing is still felt by people of all backgrounds, his unparalleled influence will never be forgotten.
Below, we've gathered some of the most inspiring quotes and quotes about working hard that demonstrate what an actual legend Kobe was. Forever in our hearts, rest in peace, Black Mamba.
Is there a Kobe Bryant quote that inspired you to reach for the heights and move mountains? Let us know!
#61
"When we are saying this cannot be accomplished, this cannot be done, then we are short-changing ourselves. "
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#62
"The moment you give up is the moment you let someone else win."
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#63
"If I wanted to play, I’d still be playing for the Lakers."
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#64
"The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do."
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#65
"When you make a choice and say, 'Come hell or high water, I am going to be this,' then you should not be surprised when you are that. It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character because you have seen this moment for so long that when that moment comes, of course, it is here because it has been here the whole time because it has been [in your mind] the whole time."
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#66
"Be sad. Be mad. Be frustrated. Scream. Cry. Sulk. When you wake up you will think it was just a nightmare only to realize it’s all too real. You will be angry and wish for the day back, the game back, that playback. But reality gives nothing back and nor should you."
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#67
"I’ve shot too much from the time I was eight years old. But ‘too much' is a matter of perspective. Some people thought Mozart had too many notes in his compositions. Let me put it this way: I entertain people who say I shoot too much. I find it very interesting. Going back to Mozart, he responded to critics by saying there were neither too many notes or too few. There were as many as necessary."
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#68
"I love that kids are building confidence on and off the court and unlocking their potential through sport."
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#69
"I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot."
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#70
"I got one more than Shaq. So you can take that to the bank."
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#71
"I never looked at [basketball] as work. I didn't realize it was work until my first year in the NBA. When I came around, I was surrounded by other professionals and I thought basketball was going to be everything to them, and it wasn't. And I was like, 'This is different.' I thought everybody was so obsessive about the game like me. It was like, 'No? Oh, that's hard work.' I get it now."
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#72
"There’s been a lot of talk of me being a one-man show but that’s simply not the case. We win games when I score 40 points and we’ve won when I score 10."
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#73
"The beauty in being blessed with talent is rising above doubters to create a beautiful moment."
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#74
"Winning takes precedence over all. There’s no gray area. No almosts."
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#75
"Take it all in. Sit back and watch and listen and hear all the hate that’s being thrown at us and remember every person that’s kicking you when you’re down because next year it ain’t gonna be this way. Appreciate it now. Let it sit in now because revenge is sweet and it’s quick."
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#76
"If you want to be great at something, there’s a choice you have to make. What I mean by that is, that there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that."
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#77
“I’ve played with IVs before, during, and after games. I’ve played with a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a torn shoulder, a fractured tooth, a severed lip, and a knee the size of a softball. I don’t miss 15 games because of a toe injury that everybody knows wasn’t that serious in the first place.”
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#78
“I would go 0-for-30 [from the floor] before I would go 0-for-9. [An] 0-for-9 means you beat yourself, you psyched yourself out of the game. The only reason is that you’ve just now lost confidence in yourself.”
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#79
"Torches never get passed. You've got to earn that."
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#80
"Not even in my dreams. That was something that just happened. It's tough to explain. It's just one of those things." — when I scored 81 points in a game."
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