The Mamba Mentality: How I Play

WHY: Whilst I had always heard about Kobe Bryant in the periphery of pop culture, I resolved to better understand what “The Mamba Mentality” was after his tragic passing last year. Basketball as a sport is something I'm slowly gaining more interest in, and I've also been reading various sport biographies/ autobiographies for personal interest.
CONTENT: Unlike other non-fiction books, there were countless short (1-page) chapters preceded by an image from Kobe's playing career, sometimes with handwritten notes on the photograph. Whilst I initially found these bite-sized gems of raw information refreshing, it became monotonous after a while, especially with the lack of timeline structure. Interestingly, there were a lot of features on specific coaches, teammates and opposition players.
WRITING: A great foreword, and then Bryant has a very clear, easy-to-understand voice throughout the text.
WHO: I would have given this a 4/5 if I was a basketball player/ fan, especially during the second section “Craft”. Honestly, I got a lot of surface-level knowledge on the sport of basketball and its characters during Kobe's era, but some of the terminology flew past me, and I felt as if I had to create my own understanding of “The Mamba Mentality” from the disparate headings.

This book provides a good avenue into the life of one of the most famous and important athletes of all time. To his mentality and approach towards life. It's revealing to read about the determination successful people can have, and I leave this book with a refreshed and inspired mindset. I've always been competitive and Kobe is the epitome of where that mindset can take you.

I couldn't help but feel though, that the book was just missing something, some more punch to it. Even for me, being a huge fan of Kobe the athlete and the person. However, I really liked reading Pau's words and watching all the great pictures throughout the book.
A very enjoyable read for me.

Mamba forever.