Kobe Bryant: Letter to My Younger Self [Player's Tribune]

Started by Poohdini, Jul 20, 2016, in Sports Add to Reading List

  1. Poohdini
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    Jul 20, 2016
    Letter to My Younger Self
    JUL 20 2016

    [​IMG]
    KOBE BRYANT
    RETIRED / LOS ANGELES LAKERS

    Dear 17-year-old self,

    When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest in the future of your family and friends. This sounds simple, and you may think it’s a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it further.

    I said INVEST.

    I did not say GIVE.

    Let me explain.

    Purely giving material things to your siblings and friends may appear to be the right decision. You love them, and they were always there for you growing up, so it’s only right that they should share in your success and all that comes with it. So you buy them a car, a big house, pay all of their bills. You want them to live a beautiful, comfortable life, right?

    But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back.

    You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, it made YOU happy to see them smiling and without a care in the world — and that was extremely selfish of you. While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but subtracting the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth.

    Understand that you are about to be the leader of the family, and this involves making tough choices, even if your siblings and friends do not understand them at the time.

    Invest in their future, don’t just give.

    Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose. Put them through school, set them up with job interviews and help them become leaders in their own right. Hold them to the same level of hard work and dedication that it took for you to get to where you are now, and where you will eventually go.

    [​IMG]

    I’m writing you now so that you can begin this process immediately, and so that you don’t have to deal with the hurt and struggle of weaning them off of the addiction that you facilitated. That addiction only leads to anger, resentment and jealousy from everybody involved, including yourself.

    As time goes on, you will see them grow independently and have their own ambitions and their own lives, and your relationship with all of them will be much better as a result.

    There’s plenty more I could write to you, but at 17, I know you don’t have the attention span to sit through 2,000 words.

    The next time I write to you, I may touch on the challenges of mixing blood with business. The most important advice I can give to you is to make sure your parents remain PARENTS and not managers.

    Before you sign that first contract, figure out the right budget for your parents — one that will allow them to live beautifully while also growing your business and setting people up for long-term success. That way, your children’s kids and their kids will be able to invest in their own futures when the time comes.

    Your life is about to change, and things are about to come at you very fast. But just let this sink in a bit when you lay down at night after another nine-hour training day.

    Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache, some of which remains to this day.

    Much love,

    Kobe

    KOBE BRYANT / LOS ANGELES LAKERS
    [​IMG]
    http://www.theplayerstribune.com/kobe-bryant-letter-to-my-younger-self/
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  2. Poohdini
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    Jul 20, 2016
    @NBAsxn another great piece from Kobe in the Player's Tribune.
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  3. Kon
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    Kon

    Jul 20, 2016
    Can tell Kobe's gonna be staying busy as f--- in retirement lol, he's already been involved in a lot of stuff. Still waiting to hear more about that documentary that was following his last season though, definitely wanna see that.
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  4. Poohdini
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    Poohdini MVP MVP

    Jul 20, 2016
    BTS for his last game is probably wild, can't wait to check that out.
     
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  5. Mike Tyson
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    Mike Tyson big cuntry's alias

    Jul 20, 2016
    Great piece, one that everyone can take something away from.
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  6. Clive
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    Clive Mind Over Matter And Soul Before Flesh

    Jul 20, 2016
    Serious post: Cool little letter to self.

    Troll post: Make sure you get a recording of when she gave consent:fkcurry:
     
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  7. Lucy
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    Lucy #1

    Jul 21, 2016
    i dont give too much a s--- about sports, especially American sports. I know Kobe's famous and that but i came in thinking "lol what kind of smug advice will this letter be?"

    But he was saying about sharing wealth kinda hit me. I used to think throwing money around would help issues/life problems/people around me and while for the short term it did, in the long run everything got f----- 100x worse and i'm still trying to fix relationships to this day.

    "...mixing blood with business. The most important advice I can give to you is to make sure your parents remain PARENTS and not managers."
     
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  8. Fitzy
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    Fitzy BeliGOAT

    Jul 21, 2016
    And prepare to get decimated by the Celtics in 2008, and luckily winning in 2010 because of some bs.

    f--- you, Kobe, you legend.
     
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  9. Ordinary Joel
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    Ordinary Joel Found a new way to flow

    Jul 21, 2016
    Sage advice as always.
     
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  10. Poohdini
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    Poohdini MVP MVP

    Jul 21, 2016
    Definitely odd seeing ppl on TV rip him for this. He's basically saying he wants those around him to still have goals so that wealth never stops growing. He has the ability to provide them something greater than just a house or a car.

    Great message especially in the context of what his parents did to him, selling off all his old memorbilia after he'd given them houses/cars. They were already well off but they got greedy and f----- their son over on some bs.
     
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  11. Kon
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    Kon

    Jul 21, 2016
    People are so narrow minded at times that they don't even try to see Kobe's message here, they just think 'oh this guy has millions and millions and doesn't want to share? f--- him!'
     
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