Obsession is Natural | By Kobe Bryant (Players Tribune)

[Dad]

There is nothing natural or normal about being a compulsive, its actually a defect or disorder.
That people seem to seek out life advice from people who were lucky to play a game for a living is fukking absurd to me.
Would you take life advice from a pro-video gamer, even if they made millions? I wouldn't, so why would you take life advice from a pro basketball or football player

If your job revolves around wins and competing, then obsessing over how to get to your goal is completely expected and healthy.
Where do you get life advice or that he's trying to play Dr. Phil from in this article?

 

[TrebleMan]

Again, reminds me of this article:

The Melancholy of Subculture Society - Gwern.net

One of the requirements for great work in any field is that one must be motivated - one must think one’s work or the field vitally important. It’s hard to become a chess grandmaster if one has contempt for devoting one’s life to studying the minutia of an arbitrary set of rules whose mastery has no utility to anything else whatsoever. I believe this may lead to a paradox of expertise, a winner’s curse: those most likely to have achieved world-class mastery of a topic are systematically the most likely to be self-deluding or badly mistaken about its value. The grandmasters of many fields claim their field is uniquely important, which of course cannot be true in general, or uniquely satisfying to them, which seems improbable as any person can have sampled but few of life’s wares. Dinosaur Comics, on the topic of world-class violinists starting in very early youth, asks What are the odds a 6-year-old would know what a 30-year-old wants to do?

Kobe's life practically revolved around basketball.

 

[Supreme365]

Phil Jackson knew how to coach back when he was getting prime Jeannie Buss puss. But It wasn't hard to motivate borderline psychopaths though.
Kobe comparing AI to a helpless seal is a false equivalence.

Where was the hunt game 1 of the finals
Kobe a beast but all this black mamba killer whale shyt is corny like really nikka in 1999 sharks hunting seals helped you guard ai

 

[David_TheMan]

If your job revolves around wins and competing, then obsessing over how to get to your goal is completely expected and healthy.
Where do you get life advice or that he's trying to play Dr. Phil from in this article?

Obsession is a disorder, what don't you understand.
If you focus and concentrate on doing your job and it works for you fine, its still a disorder, it just happens to work for your benefit.
Saying obession is natural is Kobe giving life advice, like I said though, it isn't natural its a disorder. Also if you would take this artice and replace Kobe and his annecdotes with a professional starcraft player of street fighter player would you look at it the same way or would you said this person needs to get help.

 

[010101]

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

 

[letti cook]

 

[#StarkSet]

Kobe

 

[Swagnificent]

The Great white came up short vs the killer whale that is Bronny, they guarded each other a lot, and Bron won the battles

Almost every time they matched up one on one Kobe put highlights up on LeBron. LeBron has no highlights plays on Kobe.

LeBron had better teams during most that stretch hence the team records. But in terms of one on one moments between the two (which were rare) Kobe roasted him.

The only time I can remember LeBron getting Kobe was 2007 in the Team USA scrimmage before the Americas tournament. LeBron got a chase down block on Kobe. Now obviously Kobe got him back at the end with several clutch shots on LeBron before hitting the game winner over Tayshaun Prince.

Kobe as a one on one player has routinely killed LeBron. That matchup is really not even a contest.

 

[Malta]

Almost every time they matched up one on one Kobe put highlights up on LeBron. LeBron has no highlights plays on Kobe.

"highlight plays"

 

[Swagnificent]

What does that have to do with the regular season matchups? He clearly put an emphasis on hunting AI during the regular season What happened to the hunt with Bron?

Kobe hunts one on one matchups. It ain't his fault LeBron rarely guarded him.

The few times Kobe matched up one on one with LeBron he roasted him. There are YouTube highlight mixes of Kobe embrassing LeBron on the regular.

LeBron has little to no plays making highlight plays on Kobe.

 

[Swagnificent]

"highlight plays"

One guy is a SF. The other is a SG. They rarely guarded each other.

I've watched every game of Kobe's career obsessively. There are only 2 guys who have gotten the better of him in their one on one matchups. Vince Carter and surprisingly Paul Pierce.

You can put whatever numbers you want to put up there but LeBron rarely ever guarded Kobe and Kobe rarely guarded him cause he was typically guarding D-Wade.

I'll give LeBron credit. He's great at accumulating stats. And his team was better for most of that run. But in terms of mano y mano one on one moments he's pretty mundane.

Kobe regularly roasted him the few times he brought up the courage to guard him.

 

[Dad]

Obsession is a disorder, what don't you understand.
If you focus and concentrate on doing your job and it works for you fine, its still a disorder, it just happens to work for your benefit.
Saying obession is natural is Kobe giving life advice, like I said though, it isn't natural its a disorder. Also if you would take this artice and replace Kobe and his annecdotes with a professional starcraft player of street fighter player would you look at it the same way or would you said this person needs to get help.

Yeah, I think you're taking this waaaaaay too literal, breh.

Obsession in the sense that Kobe is talking about is non-clinical & refers to a disproportionate or unusual focus on something. Basically, he pays more attention than most people to something (in this case his opponents) ...even most people who are interested in something.

This is why I said his obsession is more than healthy: nobody who has ever achieved anything impressive or made an outstanding contribution to anything, has gotten their without a certain level of obsessiveness. You can be a gifted athlete, for the sake of the argument, but unless you practice obsessively you'll never make it to the league. You can be a gifted musician, a talented cook, but unless you work on both your strengths and weaknesses you will end up being a wasted talent or an underachiever at best.

In this article Kobe is only speaking of himself and how he viewed his time in the league, it was natural for HIM. He isn't encouraging you or I to view life in the same way.

 

[Malta]

Basically what that wall of text amounts to, they guarded each other when the games were close, now take that for data

 

[Swagnificent]

LeBron is a terrible one on one player. Without screens he's pretty useless. Especially when matched up with Kobe. Which is why Kobe embarrassed him that one year in the all-star game blocking his shot twice.

In all star games there aren't many screens and LeBron had no answer one on one for Kobe when he decides lock in defensively.

 

[David_TheMan]

Yeah, I think you're taking this waaaaaay too literal, breh.

Obsession in the sense that Kobe is talking about is non-clinical & refers to a disproportionate or unusual focus on something. Basically, he pays more attention than most people to something (in this case his opponents) ...even most people who are interested in something.

This is why I said his obsession is more than healthy: nobody who has ever achieved anything impressive or made an outstanding contribution to anything, has gotten their without a certain level of obsessiveness. You can be a gifted athlete, for the sake of the argument, but unless you practice obsessively you'll never make it to the league. You can be a gifted musician, a talented cook, but unless you work on both your strengths and weaknesses you will end up being a wasted talent or an underachiever at best.

In this article Kobe is only speaking of himself and how he viewed his time in the league, it was natural for HIM. He isn't encouraging you or I to view life in the same way.

Not being too literal at all, read what the article actually says.
The man was getting mad because AI a veteran had more buckets than him when he was younger in the game, to the point he tore up a hotel room. Let that sink in.
That shyt isn't healthy and it isn't normal, its a disorder and he should have gotten health.
Obsession is never healthy, self disicipline, focus, attention to detail, those are healthy traits, being obsessed isn't.
If its natural for him he needs to get help, because it isn't.