As an NBA chaplain, I was blessed to meet Kobe Bryant, one of the all-time greats of professional basketball. Too often, people focus on how his life ended, in a plane crash on January 26, 2020, rather than how his life was lived.
It is easy to forget what an incredible player Kobe Bryant was. Over the course of his 20-year career, he won five NBA championships, scored 33,643 points, and won two Olympic gold medals. In his final game, Kobe Bryant scored an amazing 60 points. Think about that. There are 450 players in the NBA. The last time Bryant scored 60 points, he was the oldest player in the league.
How was Kobe Bryant able to become one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of sneakers? In addition to his legendary workouts, he did something few others ever saw. Bryant spent hours every day in the video room, studying the habits of each opponent. He explained, “I went from watching what was there to watching for what was missing and should have been there.”
That’s called attention to detail. It’s called diligence. And it’s called greatness.
Paul told us to focus on the details, to give great effort to “whatever you do, in word or deed” (Colossians 3:17).
Recovery Step: Focus on the little stuff. And study your opponent.
