"In some areas of his mindset, I think we’re very similar.”-Giannis Antetokounmpo speaks on the comparisons to Kobe Bryant
Giannis Antetokounmpo is only 27 years old, but it seems like he has been dominating over the league for quite a while now, having an NBA championship to his name, a Finals MVP award, two regular season MVPs, a DPOY, and numerous All-Star appearances along with many other accolades.
Nobody could have quite predicted that when Giannis got drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks back in 2013, but the raw talent in him slowly got built into a dominant beast over years with hard work and dedication. Something that he saw and got inspired by quite possibly the hardest worker in NBA history, Kobe Bryant.
Similar mindset
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Giannis opened up on his relationship with Kobe and the comparisons he gets to the legend
“I will never say this, I will never disrespect the name of the great Kobe. I don’t like mentioning him,” Antetokounmpo said. “I feel like he should be mentioned, should never be forgotten. But I don’t like mentioning his name to bring attention to the conversation that we are about to have. I wasn’t close to him. I wasn’t this with him or that with him. But I would say this, in some areas of his mindset, I think we’re very similar.”
Although the comparisons to the great Kobe flatter the 'Greek Freak', he doesn't want to steal attention from Bryant's name, but rather remind people about his greatness.
On/off court difference
After Kobe's career, a lot of players came out and spoke about how "Bean" served as a mentor and helped a lot of young players coming up. Something we didn't really see during his playing days, as Kobe was simply a fiery competitor that didn't make friends on the court. Giannis explained how the attitude would change once they got in between the lines.
“I might not be as talented as him, but when we’re talking about a guy that worked extremely hard from his first day until he retired. A guy that plays to win, a guy that pushes himself to the limit, a guy that has a killer mentality when he steps on the court,” Antetokounmpo said.
“It’s almost like having — I think he had two personalities. Like when we were on the sideline and we were talking and I was taking notes, laughing smiling, joking around, talking. But when we stepped on the court, It was like motherf—er didn’t even know me. ‘I thought you were like my friend.’”
Giannis respected that and learned from Kobe, becoming one of the scariest and fieriest sights you could ever see on the court and the most genuine and relaxed character in his personal life, being just a silly dad and family man.