Kobe Bryant, prior to his untimely death, was coaching his daughter Giannia Bryant’s Team Mamba. However, he was also an unofficial life coach to more than a handful of NBA players. It came naturally to Kobe when it came to sensing a future star and guiding them early in their career.

Most recently, the world saw how Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker gave away the credit for his mentality to the teachings from KB. But even before DBook, the Black Mamba had tried to do the same for D’Angelo Russell.

Kobe Bryant decided to help D’Angelo Russell outside of basketball

The NBA selects just 60 fresh faces every year out of hundreds of thousands who dream about their draft. Now, these new entrants (mostly 19-year-olds) suddenly see a crazy amount of money in their bank accounts and it becomes easy for them to lose their focus. Kobe, in his 20th year in the league, knew it better than anyone.

So when the Lakers drafted D’Angelo Russell as a second overall pick, Kobe decided to help DLo with some wisdom. So he tried to inspire the rookie with his mamba mentality that always worked towards a long-term vision, much greater than basketball.

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Notably, back in 2014, Apple had signaled that they wanted Kobe to become their spokesman. Later in 2016, he and Michael B. Jordan had come together to do an Apple TV Ad, perhaps because of the Lakers star’s business relation with Tim Cook.

Photographer Details How Kobe Bryant Coached His Daughter and Team Mamba

How did DLo feel about the Mamba’s impact on him?

D’Angelo Russell and Kobe Bryant played 66 games together in a season where the Lakers lost way more games than they won. That year, DLo averaged 13.2 points and learned the different sides of basketball under the coachmanship of Kobe.

In a November 2019 interview, just two months before KB’s unfortunate demise, he had given an interview that summed up everything. He had stated about his time with the Lakers, “It’s a blur to be honest. I remember Kobe more than anything… the Kobe farewell tour, getting to be a part of that and see the respect that he had.”

DLo, since leaving the Lakers has certainly become a better player and a lot of the credit for that goes to Kobe’s initial assistance. We wish good luck to the youngster and hope he achieves all that Kobe inspired him to. #MambaForever

Watch this story – Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, and Other NBA Players Mentored by Lakers’ Kobe Bryant