NBA champion Metta World Peace (previously known as Ron Artest) has a warning for anyone who thinks they're a hard worker: there's probably someone-maybe even on your team-willing to work even harder than you. It's a career lesson he learnt from Kobe Bryant.In an interview with Fortune's Orianna Rosa Royle at Web Summit Qatar, World Peace revealed that he had heard the late Los Angeles Lakers basketball player was grinding hard at the gym before long days of grueling training.
"The other guy" O'Neal was referring to was Kobe Bryant. He and Bryant won three titles together with the Los Angeles Lakers, then the relationship went south and the Lakers traded O'Neal to Miami in the summer of 2004. Bryant eventually got his fourth and fifth titles to pass O'Neal, and the two teammates-turned-rivals mended fences to a certain extent before Bryant -- along with his daughter Gianna and seven others -- died in a helicopter crash six years ago.
"I was definitely hyped," Allen told ESPN. "I had Paul Pierce in my ear telling me, 'Get ready! You stick me every day [in practice]. You should be ready. Let's go! That's Kobe Bryant!'" The No. 25 pick in the 2004 draft was trying to soak everything in and get himself in the right frame of mind for the 54th game of his young NBA career.
"You got to win four of 'em. And they're a good ball club over there. You can't really take 'em lightly. Yamamoto is going to pitch Friday. He's such a good pitcher, so you can't really take anything for granted. And baseball's a funny game. "You never know what you're going to see that day, and we just got to win one more and hopefully we don't have to go to Game 7."
The first No. 24 jersey worn by Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers recently sold for $889,000, including buyer's premium, at Sotheby's. A jersey used by Jerry West from 1964 to 1967 also sold for $533,400 on the same night. Bryant wore the jersey while posting 23 points in a 118-112 victory against the Seattle Supersonics on Nov. 3, 2006. He would score 50 points or more in a game on 10 occasions in that 2006-07 season.
Nike continues its tribute to Kobe Bryant with the upcoming release of the Kobe Bryant x Nike Air Force 1 Low "Court Purple," a design that combines the timeless Air Force 1 silhouette with nods to the late basketball legend's lasting impact on the game. Following last year's successful debut of two Kobe-inspired AF1s, this latest iteration represents another meaningful chapter in Nike's ongoing effort to honor Bryant's legacy both on and off the court.
Kobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star, was an unexpected admirer of John's music: as a boy, Bryant would tie a towel around his neck and run around to the theme of Superman; as a player, he used the Imperial March to hype himself up before games; and as a father, he would rock his infant daughters to sleep on his chest listening to Hedwig's Theme.
