:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59888939/mamba_mentality.0.jpg)
Kobe Bryant isn’t exactly enjoying a quiet retirement. He’s made a video (about himself), a web series (about how he would handle the playoffs) and now has a book (about himself) coming out.
He made the announcement Tuesday afternoon.
"The Mamba Mentality: How I Play" book comes out October 23, 2018! Learn how I approached the process and the craft, accompanied by 20 yrs of photos from the incomparable @ADBPhotoInc. Intros by @paugasol & @PhilJackson11 https://t.co/Na41sWLmtp pic.twitter.com/POFZnOwZPm
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) May 29, 2018
Kobe’s career is certainly all kinds of fascinating. It spanned multiple decades and involved just about every noteworthy storyline that went on in the NBA in that timespan.
Everything from the feud with Shaquille O’Neal, to the trade demands of the mid 2000’s and on into the latest chapter in Lakers-Celtics lore would make incredibly interesting chapters.
He’s shown a constant interest in telling stories and maybe at some point we’ll get an original one that doesn’t focus on his own life, but for now, there are worse options to roll with.
Kobe has also become fascinated with the idea of processes, and how they lead to success on and off the basketball court. This book seems like it will focus at least in part on the process of developing his own mentality and how it evolved over the course of his career. He enjoyed a ton of success in several walks of life and those hoping to learn about the psychology that went into some of that will probably have a few lessons to take with them.
The choices for forwards are also noteworthy. Pau Gasol played a vital role in helping take Kobe from three titles to five (and one more than Shaq, as I would mention in every single interview if I was Kobe). Phil Jackson famously skewered Kobe in his own book right after the three-peat ended and has never pulled a single punch about just about any topic, so it will be interesting to see where he takes his introduction to the book. Andrew Bernstein has taken some of the most iconic photographs of Kobe ever taken.
Telling his story his way has become a theme for Kobe since he walked away from the game. I would imagine this will put him in the brightest light possible, but there are definitely aspects of his career and life that will be fascinating in such a context.