This past week was Kobe Bryant’s birthday. If not for his tragic death, he would be 46 years old today… and may still be playing basketball. Being born and raised in Los Angeles, I was a huge Kobe fan. I greatly admired his incredible, almost indescribable, repertoire of skills that made him so dominant.
But Kobe also made me a better lawyer. How? Watching him practice and dedicate himself to being the best taught me what it takes to achieve the highest level in our chosen profession. Most of us are not born a professional musician, athlete, attorney, doctor, artist, or businessperson. Rather, it takes years of hard work and dedication. Kobe Bryant worked relentlessly to perfect his craft as a basketball player.
Author Alan Stein, Jr. tells the story about asking Kobe Bryant if he can watch him practice. Kobe says “sure, and I’ll see you at 4 o’clock.” Stein inquires, “4 pm?” And Bryant responds, “No, 4 a.m.” That daily early morning training session is when Kobe, the greatest player in the world at the time, would start his own individual practice sessions.
At the practice session, Kobe worked on the most fundamental of skills, including basic dribbling, footwork, layups, etc. But he did it with an incredible intensity and laser focus. He wasn’t going through the motions. Blown away by the basic nature of Kobe’s practice, Stein asked, “Why does the greatest player in the game need to practice such basic moves?” Kobe responds with a big smile “Well, how do you think I became the best player in the game?”
Kobe understood that excellence and greatness begin with disciplined practice and focused intensity on the fundamentals. Kobe built his greatness brick by brick. Kobe understood that daily excellence precedes mastery. In that way, Kobe gave me (and us) the secret to being a great attorney. He taught us to commit to doing and being excellent as an attorney every single day. By consistently striving for excellence, we can eventually become great lawyers.