Kobe's Work Ethic

chrismikayla · Post #1 » by **chrismikayla** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 6:22 pm

We've all heard of his insane work ethic which was almost maniacal. Did any other top player in history come close to his work ethic besides MJ?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi2l4Ho3OfQAhVCOyYKHT3CC3kQFgghMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fkobe-bryant-insane-work-ethic-2013-8&usg=AFQjCNH_lvrsZiEK_AoqaUUihDfdnnlwyg&sig2=04ImtiiUZvO_hrN_5Z4xEw

LLJ · Post #2 » by **LLJ** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 6:31 pm

Magic and Bird had insane work ethic.

BobanSmash · Post #3 » by **BobanSmash** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 6:46 pm

chrismikayla wrote:We've all heard of his insane work ethic which was almost maniacal. Did any other top player in history come close to his work ethic besides MJ?

Well you can't really measure "work ethic" so it's hard to say.

But what's easy to say is that you can look at some top all time list and be sure that guys near the top all have great work ethic, you don't become one of the all time greats by accident, talent only gets you so far.

ChiCityHoops34 · Post #4 » by **ChiCityHoops34** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 6:56 pm

BobanSmash wrote:
chrismikayla wrote:We've all heard of his insane work ethic which was almost maniacal. Did any other top player in history come close to his work ethic besides MJ?

Well you can't really measure "work ethic" so it's hard to say.

But what's easy to say is that you can look at some top all time list and be sure that guys near the top all have great work ethic, you don't become one of the all time greats by accident, talent only gets you so far.

Unless you're Shaq. Even a half hearted work ethic he probably could have been the best ever.

Egg Nog · Post #5 » by **Egg Nog** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 7:02 pm

LLJ wrote:Magic and Bird had insane work ethic.

Absolutely...and they fueled each other's work ethic.

ThumbsUpBaby · Post #6 » by **ThumbsUpBaby** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 7:10 pm

Larry Bird is definitely at the top of the list.

SunKing · Post #7 » by **SunKing** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 7:33 pm

I don't know, I wasn't with them when they were training... You know to classify them you need to really know what they did and how they lived it.

All I can measure is professionalism, getting in shape etc...

I'm pretty sure a top-20 player of all time works 3 hour a day during the summer for polishing his skills and adding some new weapons to his game... Then a D-League player workout 7 hour a day to be a rotational NBA player... So who would have the biggest work ethic between these two for you ?

Actually I think I went off-topic lol, but the whole "work ethic" thing is so abstract and hard to materialize.

I mean at the end of the day it's all about need to do everything possible to be the best, for some it demands great amount of work for some other it demands good amount of work.

[/rant]

PS : Probably all of Top 20 players had great work ethic, maybe not the ultimate one but I don't see anybody being at top of the game historically not having a passion for hardwork and strive for greatness.

tidho · Post #8 » by **tidho** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 7:35 pm

Suspect you don't get to that level without it.

In some cases, like Bird and Jordan, the drive seemed a but unhealthy actually.

bmurph128 · Post #9 » by **bmurph128** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 7:40 pm

Ironic that LeBron is not often thought of for this, but is a top 5, maybe top 2 player all time

Post #10 » by **ken6199** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 7:59 pm

Before '10 finals game 7.

LLJ · Post #11 » by **LLJ** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 8:29 pm

bmurph128 wrote:Ironic that LeBron is not often thought of for this, but is a top 5, maybe top 2 player all time

He has strong work ethic. But he obviously has shown that he has a life outside of basketball. For guys like Kobe, Bird, basketball was pretty much their whole life.

Egg Nog · Post #12 » by **Egg Nog** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 8:40 pm

Nobody should pretend like they can make a real top 5/top 10/etc list of work ethic throughout NBA history.

Do you guys really know that Dolf Schayes wasn't top 10? What about Nate Robinson? What about Norm Van Lier?

Let's face it, we don't have enough information to actually rank anything...we just know a few players who definitely worked hard.

MrCheerios · Post #13 » by **MrCheerios** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 8:56 pm

I admire the dedication. It's borderline unhealthy, but makes for entertaining basketball when you know someone is that determined and pushes himself that far to be the best. Then again, Iverson was probably my favorite player at the time. We're talking about practice, man.

24istheLAW · Post #14 » by **24istheLAW** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 8:57 pm

bmurph128 wrote:Ironic that LeBron is not often thought of for this, but is a top 5, maybe top 2 player all time

Hard to look at the way his shooting percentages changed in his career and figure he's a slacker.

Something like this is more about tiers than rankings. There's definitely some players who are slackers. There's definitely some players who are consumed with their profession. There's definitely an in between. Breaking them down beyond that is a fool's errand.

Ballerhogger · Post #15 » by **Ballerhogger** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 9:04 pm

We all can agree he worked really hard to get where he was. Not thread worthy really

LoveMyRaps · Post #16 » by **LoveMyRaps** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 9:32 pm

chrismikayla wrote:We've all heard of his insane work ethic which was almost maniacal. Did any other top player in history come close to his work ethic besides MJ?

By top player do you mean like top 10 player of all time? Or just a HOFer?

If the latter, then Ray Allen for sure.

dorkestra · Post #17 » by **dorkestra** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 9:43 pm

I'm sure there have been guys who are average or below average with supreme work ethics that we'll probably never hear about.

Edrees · Post #18 » by **Edrees** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 10:08 pm

Egg Nog wrote:Nobody should pretend like they can make a real top 5/top 10/etc list of work ethic throughout NBA history.

Do you guys really know that Dolf Schayes wasn't top 10? What about Nate Robinson? What about Norm Van Lier?

Let's face it, we don't have enough information to actually rank anything...we just know a few players who definitely worked hard.

Of course, but you could make decent determinations of the work ethic of the greatest nba players who have played, of course nothing is concrete. Nobody cares about scrubs, we're talking about stars here.

It's not even nearly the only way to measure work ethic, but the reason Kobe has his reputation stronger than others is probably because, specifically, he is willing to get to the gym to practice by 3 or 4 am on a very consistent basis. That's one of the more visible elements to see how much time someone is willing to put into their game. I highly doubt someone like Nate Robinson was doing this, or he would have been a lot more consistent of a player.

Honestly, there isn't much of a talent gap between the 10th best NBA player and top 100. Probably top 10 have insane talent, but everyone else is about at the same level. The difference is straight up the work ethic. Bargnani with the work ethic of a Lebron or a Bird would have been at least an all star. Imagine if Barnani went after every rebound with the force of a Russell Westbrook. To me it's not that hard to see when a player has a strong passion for improving his game and when he doesn't.

powerhouse117 · Post #19 » by **powerhouse117** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 10:23 pm

It's well documented that Dennis Rodman was a maniacal gym rat.

LakersLegacy · Post #20 » by **LakersLegacy** » Fri Dec 9, 2016 10:28 pm

powerhouse117 wrote:It's well documented that Dennis Rodman was a maniacal gym rat.

Rodman would wait under the rim while his teammates practiced shooting. He was mentally watching the rebounds from where different teammates favorite spots. Rebounding GOAT for his position.