How Kobe Bryant was 'bullied' into a better player

Kobe Bryant's work ethic was undeniable. He used to be the first guy at the gym and the last to leave. All the hard work Bryant put in during his career paid out as he was one of the greatest players in NBA history. However, it seems that he was helped by a couple of players to get better. Robert Horry and Byron Scott recall how they used to mess with Kobe, beating him during practice, which made him go back the next time and workout even harder.

“We knew how driven Kobe was. You remember the string game we used to play, right? Kobe couldn’t shoot 3’s back then, so he would always get beat. We’d get to practice, he was down there shooting 3’s. ‘You guys can we play?’ And we’d be like, ‘Nah, we ain’t playing today.’ And he would get mad because he wanted revenge, right? And then we’d wait like two or three days. ‘OK, we’ll play today.’ Then he gets beat again, and he go right back to the lab trying to get better," commented the players.

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“We used to mess with him so much about things he could not do,” Horry continued. “And that dude would be in the gym next morning, 5 AM, 6 AM, trying to prove us wrong. … That’s what made him great, man.” commented the former Lakers  during their appearance on the podcast "Off the Dribble". In the end, Kobe is a Hall of Famer, and it was because of how he never wanted to lose. Even at practice, being a rookie, he tried to be the best version of himself.

Kobe's stats speak for themselves. ‘Black Mamba’ ended his career after playing 20 seasons for the Lakers. He averaged 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 1,346 regular-season games. He was a key player in 5 of the Lakers NBA championships where he won first a three-peat and the a back-to-back. As an individual, he was selected to play in 18 All-Star games and he won 1 MVP award. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020.

Is Kobe Bryant a top-3 player in NBA history?

It's hard to put Kobe as a top-3 player. He might not even be a top-3 player in Lakers history as there's Magic, Kareem and Shaq above him. Still, he is right there with them as he will always be remembered as a top player in history.