- Kobe Bryant has inspired a whole generation of people. Some of whom have become players ...
- Why did they like it so much? Thanks to gestures in particular? Not necessarily as the player knew how to do everything on a field
- The Lakers history # 24 has left its mark on his sport thanks to his immense daily investment. He left nothing to chance and worked hard to be the best.
"It was my first basketball jersey ..." Nicolas Lang speaks with emotion of the death of Kobe Bryant, Sunday in an accident. The back of CSP Limoges, 29 years old today, was 6 when he discovered the history of the "Black Mamba". “Like a whole generation that hadn't known Michael Jordan's great years, we grew up with Kobe. He had such a charisma… ”
"If I became a fan of the Lakers, it is thanks to him", supports his former partner at SIG Strasbourg, Boris Dallo. “When I started watching basketball, I immediately became interested in him and he made me love him very much. I think we were all inspired by him and we tried to imitate him. »Not easy…
"What characterized him was his fade-away"
Capable of incredible offensive performance, the five-time NBA champion mastered almost all the gestures of his sport. Where James Harden will go down in history for his step back (step back before the shot), Kobe Bryant shone thanks to a rich and varied panoply.
"He knew how to do everything but only did useful things, dribble and then shoot," says Lang. "For me, what characterized him was his fade-away (shot made during a jump backwards)", reacts Dallo also thinking about the "footwork at the low position" of the American. "You were facing him, you got lost, he had all the keys to pass you! "
"In fact, you couldn't stop it," says Axel Toupane. The former Denver Nuggets player had the heavy task of defending on his idol one evening in March 2016. "I had been hyperactive and had made two or three good stops but he had also brought me back to school twice, ”he smiles.
The French international had even exchanged a few words with the historic No. 24 of the Lakers. "In fact, I pressed him too much. He did me a reverse (a dribble in the opposite direction) and explained to me in the middle of the match why he had done this to me! Afterwards, I told him that I came from Mulhouse (where Bryant had lived a few months during his youth) and he said to me "Welcome to the league young fella" (Welcome to the NBA young guy). "
"He left nothing to chance"
Claude Bergeaud had also observed the star closely, during several training sessions in Los Angeles. “I remember a session on the eve of a match, which is often the most relaxed. He stayed focused from start to finish, ”says the former coach of the Blues (2003-2007). “He left nothing to chance and had created a personal organization for his success, with nutritionist, physical trainer etc. We only saw talent in him but it was linked to a huge volume of work. "
A characteristic that has also influenced the level of investment of a whole generation of basketball players. "He was someone I followed for his ethics and his values," confirms the US GIS leader Scottie Reynolds, visibly struck by the news. "He got up early in the morning, went to work ... He understood everything a basketball player had to do to progress and win. I always tried to reproduce that. "
"His game, his charisma, his arrogance did not leave anyone indifferent"
In his attitude on the parquet floor, the man with 33,643 career points also marked his time. "He wanted to kill his opponents and had incredible mental toughness. Even injured or with broken fingers, he played, ”said Boris Dallo. “He was in a state of permanent concentration. It was not an important basket that would get him out of his game. It seemed impervious to any pressure, at least in appearance, ”adds Claude Bergeaud.
“His game, his charisma, his arrogance left no one indifferent. You were talking about him, you were sure there was going to be a debate, ”summarizes Nicolas Lang before concluding. “I never tried to imitate it on the dunks because I didn't have the same verticality. But on the shoots, that's for sure. Unconsciously or not, we often think of him. "
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