For someone who seemed like he had a set of cogs built for nothing but net where human emotion should be each time he was in Purple and Gold, Kobe Bryant sure wore his heart in his stride. Every jumper, layup, and fadeaway exploded with passion. He was in love with the game, yes; that was obvious. But following his retirement, he quickly proved to everybody what his army of fans had already knew — the Mamba Mentality is bigger than basketball.
It’s bigger than sinking impossible threes and intimidating rivals. It’s about showing profound effort and care toward the things you’re grateful for most. Doing better and better for the things that life is better for. He left gyms having worn out every muscle in his body to give back to basketball. He hung his Nikes when his body stopped permitting him to do so, then went on to give whatever was left of him to everything else that kept him going through his years on the court in the first place.
It was a long and varied list, as evidenced by his newly founded media company, wide-ranging charitable foundations, his rising business empire, youth camps, and who knows how much more. The man even won an Oscar. But above all of these stood firmly and unshakeably his all-encompassing desire to be around for his family: Vanessa, Natalia, the late Gianna, Bianka Bella, and his seven-month old Capri. While he was obsessed with being the greatest player just because he loved basketball, he was passionate about being the best dad he could be just because.
This way of living affected millions of people and among these are, Melvin Rodas and Tristan Tamayo, two Filipino creatives who in their own ways also wanted to be like Kobe.
Like Kobe, Communicate Passion
Melvin Rodas, a graphic designer and illustrator, had a start in his career by incorporating Kobe’s mentality into actually drawing Kobe. “I draw a lot of stuff, but my heart races after his games and I couldn’t help myself but be so motivated and focused on these things in my head. So, he [was] basically my warm up illustration and whatever—anything related to the Mamba. I realized one day, thanks to the internet, my illustrations of him [were] getting so much attention and got me a few freelance projects. That’s where it started. He [was] getting the attention and I [got] job after job after job. Which then connected me to some really great people behind the sports scene in the US.”
When asked on why he was so drawn, pun intended, to Vino in the first place, his answer was simple: “I wanted to be someone who communicates with passion in my field. He impacted so much to so many people that I look up to him and say — I am happy working to inspire other people.”
Like Kobe, Dig Deep and Dream Epic
On the other hand, Tristan Tamayo, a photographer and graphic artist had a more internal view of Kobe’s impact. As how Melvin was happy to inspire other people, Kobe’s work ethic inspired Tristan himself. “I [wanted] to adapt his mentality, I [wanted] to strive and live up to my full potential. Continue to grow, be curious, and never stop trying things to make myself better each day.” Each click of his shutter was a ripple from the effect of a sunken three from the Mamba. “Because [most people] relate to his #MambaMentality, and that mentality is not reserved for basketball players, it’s about life. It’s for anyone who has a dream and need some push to dig deeper and work harder. Regardless of what field you are in it’s always relatable.”
Truly, the world is not the same way that Kobe had left it.
As Melvin put it, “I guess a part of feels like we are Kobe. We are all doing our own hustle. We are pouring every ounce of ourselves to achieving our goals.”
Rest in Peace, Bean.
