Quote

"Great things come from hard work and perseverance."

- Kobe Bryant

Real Life

Kobe Bryant is known as one of the all-time greats of NBA basketball. His name is often mentioned alongside Michael Jordan and Lebron James when discussing who is the greatest NBA player ever. But, of course, it didn’t start out like that.

When Bryant was 11 years old, he played in the Sunny Hill League. His father and uncles had played in that league as kids and dominated it. When Bryant played, he didn’t score one point all summer. Not one. In his own words “I was terrible”. At the end of his season, Bryant decided “to go to work”. He knew he had a lot to work on so he broke it down to one thing at a time, working hard at improving one skill at a time. By the next season he was better. The season after that, he was a standout in the league. With consistent hard work he had gone from being one of the worst players to one of the best.

If you watch a highlight reel of Kobe Bryant’s NBA days, it’s hard to imagine him ever being less than amazing. It’s hard to believe that he had to work really hard at his game. However, the lessons he learnt in those early days about determination and hard work, are part of what got him to the NBA and kept him there for so long.

When we are developing in our sport we often see people who seem to excel without needing to work at it. There are those who have a natural gift for sport, but natural gifts only get us so far. To really excel, it takes hard work. A strong work ethic coupled with a coachable attitude can take any athlete a long way.

The bible talks often about the value of working hard. While a free ride may seem like an attractive option, the discipline of working to achieve something is a deeply valuable characteristic that the superstars of sport nearly always have. Value it.

Bible Verse

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied

Proverbs 13:4

Prayer

Thank You Lord for Bryant’s example of hard work. When I feel like I have a hard road ahead, help me to have the perseverance and discipline to give my best and work diligently.

Author: Sarah Auld   |   Content Editor: Phil Pawley