Mamba Day: 6 Lessons From Kobe I’ll Never Forget

Hi there fellow book lover! 👋

Welcome to The One Percent Better Club 📚 - your weekly dose of brilliant ideas from the world’s best nonfiction books that are going to help you be one percent better today than you were yesterday! This week, I’m talking about the book The Little Book of Kobe. So if you’re ready for that one percent upgrade, then let's get started! 🚀

A few years ago, Ryan Holiday shared a story about Kobe Bryant that has stuck with me ever since.

In early January, Kobe got a call from an ESPN reporter working on a piece about Phil Jackson’s triangle offense. And she wanted Kobe to be a part of it.

It wouldn’t have taken Kobe that much of his time either. Just a quick 30-minute interview.

And in return, Kobe would’ve received:

• More exposure.

• More followers.

• A boost in shoe sales.

The ROI was obvious.

It should’ve been an easy “yes”, right?

But here’s the thing…

Kobe said “no.”

His reason?

“I can’t right now. My girls are keeping me busy. Hit me up in a couple of weeks.”

However, just 3 weeks later, Kobe and his daughter Gianna tragically passed away in a helicopter crash.

Obviously, Kobe didn’t know his time was running out when he said no to the ESPN reporter. But he did know what mattered to him the most: his daughters.

Oftentimes, most people say yes to everything out of obligation, guilt, or fear.

But saying “yes” to things that don’t matter means saying “no” to the things that do.

So if something:

• Distracts you from what’s important, say no to it.

• Doesn’t move you forward, say no to it.

• Doesn’t make you better, say no to it.

Every “no” to the wrong thing is a “yes” to the right thing.

Kobe knew that.

And now, so do you.

I love this idea so much, and it’s one of my favorite lessons I’ve learned from Kobe.

And, interestingly, if you didn’t know, tomorrow is Mamba Day, which Nike calls April 13th to commemorate Kobe Bryant's final NBA game.

So in honor of Kobe, I wanted to share a few of my favorite lessons from the book The Little Book of Kobe.

This book is essentially a powerful collection of his quotes from different moments in his life.

So if you’re ready to tap into that Mamba Mentality, then here are 6 of the best ideas from this book.

Let’s dive in!