You really want me on the team,

what's your approach to recruit

me?
You want first place, come play
with me you want second place go
somewhere else.
It's like, I would watch Magic play
I'd watch Michael play
and I would see them
do these unbelievable things
and I'd say, you know,
can I get to that level?
I don't know but let's find out.
Everything was done
to try to learn how to become
a better basketball player.
Everything everything.
And so when you have that point
of view then literally the world
becomes your library
to help you to become
better at your craft.
So because you know what you
 want the world's giving you
exactly the information 100%
because you know what you're
looking for. So many guys tell
stories about your work ethic
- Yeah
- what was really your work ethic
like?
And for how long did you stay
disciplined?
Umm, well, I mean
I mean every day, I mean since,
you know, 20 years.
It was an everyday process
and trying to figure out
strengths and weaknesses.
For example, jumping ability
Man, my vertical was a 40,
it wasn't a 46 or 45
My hands are big but they're not
massive.
Right, so you got to figure out
ways to strengthen them
 so your hands are strong enough
to be able to palm a ball
and do the things that you need to
do.
Quickness. I was quick
but not insanely quick.
I was fast but not ridiculously fast.
Right, so I had to...
rely on skill a lot more.
I had to rely on angles a lot more.
I had to study the game a lot more.
And... But I enjoyed that though.
So like from the time I was...
I can't remember
when I started watching the game
I studied the game,
and it just never changed.
It's a good separation for me,
you know, emotionally
to be able to put myself in a place
where at practice or when I'm
training or during games
I switch my mind to something
 else.
I switch my mode into something
else.
Right, for me, It's the equivalent
of...
Maximus Decimus Meridius in
Gladiator picking up the dirt,
smelling the dirt it's go time.
Right? So that was my mental
switch.
Getting ready for a film.
You got to put yourself in that
cage,
when you're in that cage
you are that character.
Then when you leave there
it's something completely different.
But when I'm in that cage, bro,
don't touch me, don't talk to me
Please
leave me alone.
How did you get mentally
and emotionally so strong
 where it doesn't bother you?
Well, you know, it's-you got to
look at the reality of the situation.
You know, like for me it's not, you
know...
you kind of got to get over
yourself.
It's not about you man.
Like okay, you feel embarrassed.
You're not that important, like...
get over yourself.
- Yeah, that's where you go.
- Get over yourself.
Right? Like you're worried about
how people may perceive you
and like you're walking around
and it's embarrassing
because you shot 5 air balls.
Get over yourself, right?
And then after that, it's okay.
Well, why did those air balls
happen? Got it.
High school, year before,
 we play 35 games
max. Right?
Week in between, spaced out
plenty of time to rest.
In the NBA it's back to back to
back
to back to back to back to back
I didn't have the legs.
So you look at the shot,
every shot was on line.
Every shot was on line
but every shot was short.
Right? I got to get stronger.
I got to train differently.
The weight training program
that I'm doing,
I got to tailor it
for an 82-game season.
So that when the playoffs come
around
my legs are stronger
and that ball gets there.
So I look at it with rationale
and say okay well, the reason why
I shot
air balls is because my legs aren't
there.
I go oh, well, next year they'll be
there.
- That was it.
- Done.
Done.
Were there some names
that you looked at and says,
these three guys are as crazy as I
am?
I do, at the time I'd deal with
what I'd refer to as Goat mountain.
I went to Goat mountain
and I talked to Magic, Michael,
Bird,
Hakeem Olajuwon, Jerry West,
Oscar Robinson, Bill Russell.
You know, so I would talk to them.
What did you do?
What were your experiences?
 Michael in particular,
he’s become my big brother.
He’s been my big brother
since I first came in the league.
And what was that process like?
So I went to them and started
understanding
the ins and outs of the game.
And you know, how they approach
things and their level of detail
and obsessiveness and...
that’s what I did.
The players that had that passion
but
weren’t willing to commit
their entire lives to doing that.
Right, it’s a choice.
Right? You have other things,
you have family,
you have all these other things that
you have to do.
The game can’t really
be your number one priority.
 And so I was just looking at that
like man,
this is going to be fun.
If I'm buddies with you from
high school, if I'm a cousin of
yours
what happened to our relationship?
How did that gravitate when you
went into the league and you’re...
you’re determined to become the
greatest
or you’re determined to become
one of the greatest
- what happens to our relationship?
- Oh, it suffers.
- It does suffer?
- Oh, yeah.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
And you understood that,
you were okay with that?
Well yeah, and the people that love
you like friends and family,
 like they know that about you.
Got it.
So they let you be you
and when you reconvene
you know, you pick back up
where you left off
but make no mistake about it
everything in between is lost.
Right. so those long-term
relationships
the commitment of time of...
you know, of taking..
Like I see a lot of players
take vacations with other players
that are close friends and
or just take vacations just to take
vacations
or just hang out just to hang out
like I- I’m not.. I never did that.
- But it was a choice.
- Why- why didn’t you do that?
Well, because when I retire,
I didn’t want to have to say
"I wish I would have done more."
I don’t want that.
You know, I don't want that.
You know, you got a lot of people
paying their hard earned money
to come watch you perform.
Perform. Perform.
It’s your job to be in shape.
It’s your job to be strong enough
to perform at that level
every single night.
And as a competitor,
I’m not, I'm not ducking stuff
Like, it's not, "Oh my God, oh
my back hurts, I'm sore.
We got to play Vince Carter
and the Toronto Raptors tonight."
We actually had this happen,
we had a game against Toronto
in 2000
and Vince was tearing the league
up. My back was jacked.
Jacked.
But like the perception of that, like
what?
Kobe's missing a game against
Toronto,
Vince Carter because..
my back was really spasming.
But people would look at me like,
"What, Oh, he's ducking Vince."
Excuse me?
No, I don't think so.
So I would be in the layup line like
Ok,
there's a lot of days where, you
know, you can rest and recover.
Today ain't one of them.
Your back can bother you any
other day
that- it ain't bothering me today.
He going- he going to have to see
me today.
- Yeah.
- My man.
- Yeh I know.
 If you're looking at a big
investment you've got to make,
what is the decision making
process there?
Do you call?
Is there.. first you do your own
research,
you take this much time
you call an adviser.
- Is there, is there a system you
follow?
- It's pretty- pretty simple to me
It's, it's do you understand the
business?
Is it a business that you
can help in some form or fashion
What are the barriers
of entry to that business?
And then the entrepreneurs
themselves.
The company itself.
Do they have a culture
that you believe is sustainable?
 Are these leaders
people that you believe in?
Or they people that are obsessives?
And in turn, have they created
a culture of obsessiveness?
So I tend to look at
those 4 factors and that's it.
That's big right there, by the way,
I don't know if you guys caught
that right.
That's pretty massive right there.
Same determination, what's your
current
work schedule look like today?
It's- it's...
it's different because I personally
am not
writing every word of the novels.
I am not animating
the films.
What I have to do now is make
sure that
the people that we bring in,
 these obsessives that we bring in
are challenging themselves
to do the best job
that they think they can do
that's what I'm there for.
Is for them to constantly look
in the mirror and self assess
and challenge themselves.
If we have a project, and you're
saying, "Okay, I can do that."
that's not the project we want.
The projects that say,
I don't know if I can animate that.
I don't know how to write that
story.
I don't know how to do that.
Those are the things we want
because through that curiosity
you'll reach a level
that you didn't think was possible.
And so, running the studio
that's what I'm doing.
You're playing against
 the Golden State Warriors
score is 107-109
you guys are close
to getting into the playoffs.
You know exactly what happens in
the game you go up,
you're about to take your shot
and then all of a sudden
- boom
- Yeah
Your Achilles happens. right?
He went and hit the free throws
and then you walked off the stage
- Yeah
- and you got the surgery done.
Right. I went in the trainer's room
and my kids are in there
and you know,
they're looking at you and stuff
and I'm looking at them
and I'm like, you know,
"It's alright, dad's going to be
alright.
 It'll be fine. It'll be alright,
it'll be alright, it'll be alright."
As a parent you got to set the
example.
You got to set the example.
This-this is another obstacle.
This obstacle cannot define me.
It's not going to cripple me.
It's not going to be responsible for
me stepping away from the game
that I love.
I'm going to step away on my own
terms.
And that's when the decision was
made that
you know what? I'm doing it.
I'm doing it.

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