Kobe Bryant: Michael Jackson Was My Teacher
Kobe Bryant, the prominent American basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers and one of the most decorated players in NBA history, says his teacher was M.J. Don’t get it wrong—he’s not talking about basketball god Michael Jordan. He means our own M.J. The King of Pop, Michael Jackson!
This 32-year-old champion said in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports that he gained his drive and perseverance from his friendship with Michael Jackson. When he joined the Los Angeles Lakers at age 18, Michael Jackson called him, and then everything changed.
Bryant says:
"It sounds strange, but it’s true. He was my coach and he prepared me. We always talked about how he would ready himself to create music and perform concerts. He taught me the paths he had taken himself—how he built the albums Thriller and Bad. He told me everything, with all its details. That was all the credibility I needed—to know I had to focus on my work and never be weak. Because what he did and the way he did it was with the power of the mind and the psyche. He helped me reach a level where I could win three championship titles while playing with Shaquille O’Neal. That was because of the preparations and lessons I received from him. And it was all in the direction of growth and progress. It’s because of the mindset I have—not because of muscle or brute strength. I didn’t get this from (Michael) Jordan. I didn’t get it from other champions. I got it from Michael Jackson."
[He, along with Shaquille O’Neal, won three championships with the Lakers from 2000 to 2002. After Shaquille O’Neal left the Lakers (the 2003-04 season), Kobe became the core of the Lakers and managed to lead the Lakers to championships in 2009 and 2010.]
After Michael’s death last year, Time magazine published memories of Kobe Bryant in its memorial issue for the King of Pop:
"One of the things he always told me was not to be afraid of being different. In other words, when you have that drive and that dynamism and movement inside you, people will try to take it from you and push you toward being 'normal.' He said being different has no problem. Having that passion and effort for a job—or thoughts and ideas—your work is good. Completely good. Don’t be afraid of being on that path. One of the books he gave me and helped me connect with myself was 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' (Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull), which is about these kinds of things."
"Beyond the genius he was, there was, inherently, inherently a beautiful person. He made me crazy about films I had never been in the habit of watching. Individual films, all those classic films. I never watched them, and he opened my mind to them. I remember I told him my fiancée and I were getting married, and he was genuinely thrilled and suggested we hold the ceremony on his ranch, Neverland. But because our wedding was secret, we got married in a church. Still, he had suggested Neverland. He was, at heart, a very kind person with exceptional sharpness. His sharpness was exceptional, and he had perseverance and genius. Mix all these traits together. The result is Michael Jackson."
Kobe appeared at the Michael Jackson Memorial on July 8, 2009, along with Magic Johnson, another American basketball champion, and said:
"We know nobody has worked on stage as much as Michael. But Michael was a real person who served people just as much when he wasn’t on stage as when he was. Michael cared about the less fortunate. His name is recorded in the Guinness World Records book as the most charitable pop star."
sportsgrid.com wrote in an article yesterday:
Michael and Bryant talked for hours on the phone about being misunderstood and not understood by society and people. What it means to have a beautiful mind and how it is. They ate cotton candy together at Michael’s ranch amusement park—Neverland—and drove electric cars.
One day in the afternoon in 96, 38-year-old Michael called this rebellious and isolated young man. He changed many things for Bryant. Among the distances, the King of Pop could feel the genius who was immersed in his own work inside him. He was the Lakers’ 18-year-old wonder, and nobody understood his restless thirst to reach greatness.
They talked for hours and hours, met at Neverland, and during that time Bryant was shaped and refined by the lessons Michael Jackson gave him drop by drop about nurturing and enduring talent—how to open his mind so he would become more alert and smarter and never get tired of striving on his path.
One of the lessons Michael Jackson gave him was that in the end, he should wrestle with his own standards and limitations more than he competes with others.
This is the first article about their relationship. Yes, Kobe and M.J. were used to sitting down together and watching the movie 'Breakfast at Tiffany’s.'
Source: eMJey / sports.yahoo.com / sportsgrid / time / wikipedia
Bryant says:
"It sounds strange, but it’s true. He was my coach and he prepared me. We always talked about how he would ready himself to create music and perform concerts. He taught me the paths he had taken himself—how he built the albums Thriller and Bad. He told me everything, with all its details. That was all the credibility I needed—to know I had to focus on my work and never be weak. Because what he did and the way he did it was with the power of the mind and the psyche. He helped me reach a level where I could win three championship titles while playing with Shaquille O’Neal. That was because of the preparations and lessons I received from him. And it was all in the direction of growth and progress. It’s because of the mindset I have—not because of muscle or brute strength. I didn’t get this from (Michael) Jordan. I didn’t get it from other champions. I got it from Michael Jackson."
[He, along with Shaquille O’Neal, won three championships with the Lakers from 2000 to 2002. After Shaquille O’Neal left the Lakers (the 2003-04 season), Kobe became the core of the Lakers and managed to lead the Lakers to championships in 2009 and 2010.]
After Michael’s death last year, Time magazine published memories of Kobe Bryant in its memorial issue for the King of Pop:
"One of the things he always told me was not to be afraid of being different. In other words, when you have that drive and that dynamism and movement inside you, people will try to take it from you and push you toward being 'normal.' He said being different has no problem. Having that passion and effort for a job—or thoughts and ideas—your work is good. Completely good. Don’t be afraid of being on that path. One of the books he gave me and helped me connect with myself was 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' (Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull), which is about these kinds of things."
"Beyond the genius he was, there was, inherently, inherently a beautiful person. He made me crazy about films I had never been in the habit of watching. Individual films, all those classic films. I never watched them, and he opened my mind to them. I remember I told him my fiancée and I were getting married, and he was genuinely thrilled and suggested we hold the ceremony on his ranch, Neverland. But because our wedding was secret, we got married in a church. Still, he had suggested Neverland. He was, at heart, a very kind person with exceptional sharpness. His sharpness was exceptional, and he had perseverance and genius. Mix all these traits together. The result is Michael Jackson."
Kobe appeared at the Michael Jackson Memorial on July 8, 2009, along with Magic Johnson, another American basketball champion, and said:
"We know nobody has worked on stage as much as Michael. But Michael was a real person who served people just as much when he wasn’t on stage as when he was. Michael cared about the less fortunate. His name is recorded in the Guinness World Records book as the most charitable pop star."
sportsgrid.com wrote in an article yesterday:
Michael and Bryant talked for hours on the phone about being misunderstood and not understood by society and people. What it means to have a beautiful mind and how it is. They ate cotton candy together at Michael’s ranch amusement park—Neverland—and drove electric cars.
One day in the afternoon in 96, 38-year-old Michael called this rebellious and isolated young man. He changed many things for Bryant. Among the distances, the King of Pop could feel the genius who was immersed in his own work inside him. He was the Lakers’ 18-year-old wonder, and nobody understood his restless thirst to reach greatness.
They talked for hours and hours, met at Neverland, and during that time Bryant was shaped and refined by the lessons Michael Jackson gave him drop by drop about nurturing and enduring talent—how to open his mind so he would become more alert and smarter and never get tired of striving on his path.
One of the lessons Michael Jackson gave him was that in the end, he should wrestle with his own standards and limitations more than he competes with others.
This is the first article about their relationship. Yes, Kobe and M.J. were used to sitting down together and watching the movie 'Breakfast at Tiffany’s.'
Source: eMJey / sports.yahoo.com / sportsgrid / time / wikipedia