Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant dominated the basketball court during his 20-seasons career in the NBA. Not only did he lead his team to victory in over five championships, but the 2020 Hall of Famer also became the finals MVP twice and has been named an NBA All-Star eighteen times, apart from breaking several records.

Looking back at his track record, one wonders how hard the Black Mamba had to work to reach that level of potential – a former NBA player and a former Coach found out for themselves.

Gilbert Arenas had to see Kobe Bryant’s workout routine for himself

‘wildcardhoops’, an Instagram handle dedicated to stories regarding the NBA world, recently uploaded a reel. It features former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas doing an interview with The Players Tribune back in 2019. While touching upon various topics, the main point of discussion soon shifted to Kobe Bryant.

Arenas recalled a moment that occurred when he called up a friend late at night and asked, “Hey, what is Kobe doing?” The response received by the former player was surprising, because it stated that the Black Mamba was at the gym. At three o’clock. When he couldn’t believe it, a suggestion was made to take a cab, reach the location and see for himself.

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Finding the athlete in practice mode, Arenas didn’t want to tear his eyes away from the scene.

“Now I get to watch him how he works. Let me see how he works,” said the 3x NBA All Star during the interview, revealing what he thought at the time.

He saw Bryant going through a full game of basketball as part of a practice session. Everything from “battling” to “line drills” was included in it. Arenas couldn’t help but watch in disbelief as Bryant did “the same move 300 times, 400 times.” 

“Is he playing today?” Arenas had wondered, recalling his thoughts from the moment.

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The moment became so embedded in his mind, Arenas would go on to talk about it in other interviews as well. Having already seen the skills and prowess that the Black Mamba displayed on the basketball court, Arenas got to know an important lesson by viewing the practice session – what Bryant had to go through in order to become the legend he is.

Kobe Bryant couldn’t even leave his own coach out of his effort to work hard

Arenas wasn’t the only one who was surprised by the Lakers star’s work ethic, being in awe of it for many years. Another person in the list is former NBA player and Bryant’s coach Bryon Scott.

Almost a year ago, Scott invited 7x NBA champion Robert Horry for an episode of The Byron Scott Podcast. Soon after touching base on Horry’s 16-year NBA career, the topic shifted towards discussing stories about Kobe Bryant. Scott recalled a moment that occurred back in 2016, the same year that would turn out to be the last one together for the player and the coach.

“He would text me like four in the morning. Like, ‘Coach, what are we doing for practice tomorrow night?’” revealed Scott during the interview. “I would wake up at 6, right, and I would say, ‘What the fu**? What are you texting me at 4 in the morning for, man?'”

Bryant’s ‘ready to go’ mindset was not something that the coach was too enthusiastic about. He would worry about the player’s sleep schedule. When he directly asked Kobe if he ever slept, he got, “No, not really.”

“’I’m working on this, I’m working on that,’” said Scott, mimicking the Black Mamba’s voice as well as he could.

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What are your thoughts on the late player’s relentless work ethic? Let us know in the comments!