MJ ON LEADERSHIP

But a leaders has to earn that title.  You aren't the leader just because you're the best player on the team, the smartest person in the class, or the most popular.  No one can give you that title either.  You have to gain the respect of those around you or by your actions.  You have to be consistent in your approach whether it's basketball practice, a sales meeting, or dealing with your family.

A leader can't make any excuses.  There has to be quality in everything you do.  Off the court, on the court, in the classroom, on the playground, inside the meeting room, outside of work.  You have to transfer those skills, that drive, to whatever environment you're in.

And you have to be willing to sacrifice certain individual goals, if necessary for the good of the team.

From "I Can't Accept Not Trying"

THE ARCHER'S MENTALITY

"When an archer misses the mark he turns

and looks for the fault within himself.  Failure

 to hit the bull's eye is never the fault of the target. 

To improve your aim, improve yourself."

 

-Gilbert Arland

THE COMPETITIVE NATURE OF KOBE BRYANT

An article that ran on BusinessInsider.com gave a list of examples of the competitive nature of Kobe Bryant.  Click here to read the complete list:

He decided to lose 16 pounds for the Olympics in 2012
Kobe has never been out of shape, but he decided to change himself as a precautionary measure. He told the Guardian: "With summer basketball leading directly into the season — and I'm expecting to play until next June — I have to take some load off my knees. I've got to shave some of this weight."

Showed up at 5 a.m. and left practice at 7 p.m. ... in high school

He'd make high school teammates play one-on-one games to 100

He used to practice by himself without a ball, says Shaq

Shaq wrote in his book: "You'd walk in there and he'd be cutting and grunting and motioning like he was dribbling and shooting — except there was no ball. I thought it was weird, but I'm pretty sure it helped him."

He counts all of his made shots in practice, and stops when he gets to 400

He goes through super intense workouts on game days
From ESPN's Rick Reilly: "Among a dozen other drills, Bryant does suicide push-ups. At the top of the pushup, he launches himself off the mat so hard that both his feet come off the ground and his hands slap his pecs. He does three sets of seven of these. This makes me turn away and whimper softly."

He had Nike shave a few millimeters off the bottom of his shoes in 2008 to get 'a hundredth of a second better reaction time'
He is on a crazy strict diet right now
He has eliminated sugar and pizza and only eats lean meat.  He told ESPN: "There aren't really any supplements that I'm taking from that perspective. What I've done really is just train really hard and watch my diet. I think that's the thing that catches guys most. They don't do self assessing."

He ices his knees for 20 minutes three times per day and does acupuncture so he doesn't get hurt

He watches film of himself at halftime
According to ESPN's Jackie McMullen in 2010: "He often corrals teammates, fires up the laptop, and shows them precisely how they can carve out easier shots for themselves."

He trains for four hours a day during the season, and more than that in the offseason

He keeps players after practice as "guinea pigs"
In 2008, Sports Illustrated reported that Kobe will keep random players after practice so that he can try out new moves on them. Similar to what he did to bench warmers in high school.

This quote from an NBA scout in 2008: 'Allen Iverson loves to play when the lights come on. Kobe loves doing it--- before the lights come on."

This quote about how he wants to be remembered: 'To think of me as a person that’s overachieved, that would mean a lot to me. That means I put a lot of work in and squeezed every ounce of juice out of this orange that I could.'

MASTERY

Coach Mike Kryzyzewski on LeBron James

"I’ve seen him grow from a great talent to an outstanding player to the best player; he’s the best player.”

”He’s in a position right now in our sport, which I call Mastery. In other words: he can guard any position, he can play any position, he’s brilliant, he’s an amazing leader, has a great leadership voice, easy to coach, and when you’re just with a group of people, he’s as funny as can be.”

”If you would see his preparation every day, and what he puts into the game, it would knock people out.”

”He’s 6’9’’ 260 and he runs like a deer, he thinks like a wizard, he leads like a general, he’s got it in every way. I’m proud of him.”