7 Stories That Prove Kobe Bryant Was NOT HUMAN…

Kobe being Bryant will forever be an inspiration for me. He is the epitome of excellence, and he's greatness personified. What he did on the basketball court was legendary, but what he did off the court will echo in eternity. Today, join me in the seven stories that prove Kobe Bryant was no mere mortal. First off, I think it's safe to say that Kobe was a borderline psychopath when it came to work ethic, and his obsession to achieve the best version of himself is on a whole nother level. You see, back in 2012, a former athletic trainer of Team USA recalled his crazy encounter with Kobe when he was training. I was invited to Las Vegas this past summer to help Team USA with their conditioning before they head off to London. We first met three days before the first scrimmage. We had a brief conversation where we talked about conditioning, where he would like to be by the end of the summer. Then he got my number, and I let him know that if he ever wanted some extra training, he could hit me up anytime. The night before the first scrimmage, I remember I was just watching Casablanca for the first time, and it was about 3 30 a.m. I lay in bed, slowly fading away when I hear my cell ring. It was Kobe. I nervously picked up. Hey, uh, Rob, I hope I'm not disturbing anything, right? Uh, no, what's up, Kobe? Just wondering if you could help me out with some conditioning work, that's all. Robert checked his clock, and it was, uh, 4 15 a.m. He then replied, yeah, sure, I'll see you in the facility in a bit. So right after the call, Robert prepped up for a couple minutes, and then he made his way to the gym immediately. Now, here's the part where it gets crazy. When he arrived at the gym and opened the doors, he saw Kobe drenched in sweat as if he had just taken a swim. Robert was surprised to see Kobe like that, and when he checked his watch, it wasn't even 5 a.m. After some conditioning work and training exercises, Robert headed back to the hotel while Kobe stayed by himself to do some shoot-arounds. The reason why Rob had to go was because he was expected to be on the floor again for the 11 a.m. practice session with the rest of the team. That's a pretty normal human thing to do, right? Well, after a short rest, the sleep-deprived Rob woke up, had a small breakfast, and headed once again to the practice facility. When he arrived, he saw LeBron talking to Melo while Coach K was having a chat with KD. Then, on the other side of the court, he saw Kobe shooting jumpers. Curious, Rob went over to Kobe and said, Good work this morning. Kobe was like, Huh? Like, the conditioning. Good work. Oh, yeah. Thanks, Rob. I'd really appreciate it. So, when did you finish? Finish what? Getting your shots up. What time did you leave the facility? Oh, just now. I wanted 800 makes, so yeah. Just now. Jeez, guys. Is that ridiculous or what? Anyway, here's another story that proves Kobe is just not a human. Okay, so when Blake Griffin was still playing for the Clippers, he got selected to be part of the Team USA Basketball Camp. While in camp, Blake heard a story about Kobe's secret training, and he became curious to see if it was really true. The first night we all got into Las Vegas last summer for the USA Basketball Camp, I heard Kobe went on some 40-mile bike ride at night through the desert. When I found out about that bike ride, I was tempted to ask him if I could go next time. When Blake revealed the story in the media, lots of people did their own research to confirm if it was legit or not. After some time, reports came out, and indeed, Kobe was biking some 40 miles in the middle of God knows where. Anyway, here's the complete detail of that story. Bryant told his long-time training trainer, Tim Grover, that he wanted to add bike training to his summer conditioning. Grover researched a trail in Las Vegas, rented three bikes, one for Kobe, one for himself, and one for Bryant's security guard. And on the night before the first day of practice, they each put on headlamps and headed out to the trail and road. The 40-mile biking story was further confirmed by Tim Grover himself, and according to him, here's how long that particular training took. We finished up around 2 a.m., and we were back in the gym working out by 7.30 in the morning. Aside from his ridiculous work ethic, what makes Kobe not human is his attention to detail. Now, here's what I mean. When Gerald Henderson first visited the Staples Center back in 2010 as a member of the Charlotte Bobcats, he saw Kobe jacking up shots before most people had even arrived in the arena. Seeing Kobe being the first wasn't that surprising, but what caught his attention was that he noticed Kobe was missing shots that he would usually make. Kobe was just as confused as Henderson, and after missing a few more, Kobe stopped and talked to a bunch of the workers in the arena. A few moments later, one of the workers came back with a ladder. Then Gerald finally came over and had a conversation with Kobe. What's going on? Something's wrong with the rim. It's too low. It's a quarter inch too low. Huh? What do you mean? I was missing shots that I don't miss. I'm pretty sure it's low. A quarter of an inch. Fast forward to the end of the game. Gerald approached one of the guys who worked on the rim and asked what was the fuss behind it. Hey man, what was up with the rim before the game? Oh, someone notified us that it was a little lower than regulation, but don't worry, we adjusted it to 10 feet. In other words, Kobe knew the rim was off by a bit, and in addition, he knew exactly how much the rim was off by. Jeez guys, do you think an average NBA player would have been able to notice that? Anyway, just like other greats, Kobe hates losing at all costs, whether it's in basketball or anything really. Well, here's the story that proves Kobe will do just about anything to win. Kobe hosted a Thanksgiving dinner in 2013, and there was a ping pong table set up in the room. Lakers sideline reporter Mike Trudell was pretty good in ping pong, and after whooping Sean Williams, he issued a challenge to Kobe, telling him that he'd be happy to beat him next. Without even saying a word, Kobe went to the table and answered Trudell's challenge. Since Trudell had experience in playing ping pong, he destroyed Kobe and took an early 5-1 lead. As we all know, Kobe is one hell of a competitor, and he despised losing. Anyways, Kobe did lose to Trudell by a huge margin in the first game, but when someone called next, the mamba didn't budge and asked for a rematch instead. Come the second game, Kobe's competitive spirit showed up as he made adjustments on the fly. Despite that, Trudell still came out on top, but the final score wasn't as lopsided as the first game. While Trudell thought that Kobe already had enough, he would soon realize that the war had only just begun. Because within the week, word reached Trudell that, uh, Kobe Bryant had ordered an official Olympic ping pong table to be delivered to his house. Anyway guys, let's get on to the next story. This play here happened in the third quarter of the Lakers matchup against the Pelicans in 2015. You can see here that after the baseline dunk, Kobe was holding onto his right shoulder while grimacing in pain, and as per the injury update, it turned out that Kobe tore his rotator cuff on that drive. Kobe sat out for most of the fourth, but with 5 minutes left and the Lakers down by 13, Kobe got back on the floor with a busted right shoulder and started playing left handed. Most players would just put on an ice pack and sit out the rest of the game to avoid aggravating the injury, but in Kobe's case, it was just another day at the office. Though the Lakers would lose the game, we can't deny the fact that Kobe was not human. I mean, he was playing with just one arm. Anyway, throughout his career, Kobe was used to playing hurt on many occasions, and the next story ain't no different. Two games before the Lakers wrapped up the 2013 season, Kobe was facing off against the Warriors, and midway through the third quarter, this happened. Other players would ask to be immediately subbed out, but not the great Kobe Bryant. The mamba refused to be subbed out, and after willing through the pain, his body finally gave out in this possession. He recalled his experience at that particular moment, and here's what he said. When I first did it, right there, I was trying to feel if the tendon is there or if it was gone. I realized it wasn't there. I was literally trying to pull the tendon up, so hopefully I could walk and kind of hobble through the last two and a half minutes and try to play. With a badly torn Achilles, Kobe still limped his way to the foul line and sank two free throws before he was taken off the court for good. While he was in the locker room, Kobe shared a heartwarming and inspiring moment when his daughters came by to visit him. I was really tired, man. Just tired in the locker room, upset and dejected and thinking about this mountain, man, to overcome. I mean, this is a long process. I wasn't sure I could do it. But then your kids walked in and you're like, I gotta set an example. Daddy's going to be fine. I'm going to do it. I'm going to work hard and go from there. From that moment, Kobe kept working his way back to health, and after intense rehab and training, he came back onto the court in a record time of just 8 months, as opposed to the expected recovery time of over a year. Man, a true warrior indeed. Anyway, guys, here's our last and final story, and I'm pretty sure this will blow your mind. Kobe and Corey Maggette developed a close bond when they were part of the now-defunct sports agency called SFX Sports, and the fact that they both trained under Tim Grover. In an interview with The Athletic, Maggette talked about his personal relationship with Kobe and revealed a crazy story about Kobe's preparation for an upcoming season. As far as with Kobe, you just knew that he was different. He was different. I remember the call that I got from Rob and Kobe. Rob called me and said, man, you wouldn't believe where I am right now. I said, where? He said, man, we're in the middle of the ocean and Kobe is trying to prepare himself for the rigors of the season. He's swimming with great white sharks. I'm like, what? He said, he's literally swimming with great white sharks. I'll never forget that. He sent me a video of him literally swimming with great white sharks. And Kobe was like, hey, if you want to get some of this mamba, you need to come swim with the sharks. I'm like, Kobe, I'm not coming to swim with no damn sharks, man. You're on your own with that one. It was just a different approach. That's some pretty intense mental form of training that no regular human would ever do. I mean, if Kobe's not afraid of swimming with great white sharks, what's he going to be afraid of on the basketball court? The answer is nothing. Anyway, after hearing all this, do you want to hear what's even crazier? Some players on the Why in the world would you trash talk someone who's willing to swim with great white sharks? That type of thinking is just beyond me. Anyway, if you want to see what happened to these poor fellas, then click the video right here. And trust me when I say you definitely want to watch this video. Anyway, just click the video guys. And like always, I'll see you on the other side.