He may no longer be a Los Angeles Laker, but Jodie Meeks still has Kobe Bryant on his brain.
Meeks tells a story from the first day of training camp a couple of years ago that exemplifies Bryant’s legendary work ethic, and says he’s ready to give the Pistons his all. Per the Detroit Free Press:
“Practice was at 11, we had to be there at 10. Well, I wanted to get there at 10,” Meeks said. “(Kobe) was already there fully dressed and sweating. I got to the locker room at 9:30, got on the court at 10, and he had been there an hour and a half working on stuff.
“I was like, ‘Man, it is true.’ This guy is working like this and at the time he was 34 years old. He felt like he still had a lot to prove, and he was still trying to prove people wrong. I was like, ‘Man, great player.’ ”
“I feel like I learned a lot from him as far as the mental aspect of the game,” Meeks said of Bryant. “It’s encouraging to me because here’s probably the second greatest shooting guard ever (Michael Jordan No. 1) putting in this type of work, then I should be putting in work like that. I’m still trying to get to my peak and still trying to get to my prime, so I need to work just as hard or even harder to get there. He’s outworking everybody. […] “No matter if he was sick or hurt or injured, he never made excuses. He just kept working hard. He got better, and you see where he’s at.”
