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Mamba out: the story of Kobe Bryant's final season

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Content MAMBA OUT: THE STORY OF KOBE BRYANT'S FINAL SEASON.

by

Skyler Trepel

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATIONS
AND JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)

May 2022

Copyright 2022 Skyler Trepel

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………..iii
Introduction and Early Years……………………………………………………….1
#8: The Brash Youngster…………………………………………………….4
#24: An Evolved Kobe Bryant…………………………………………….....7

The Final Season: A Legend’s Farewell……………………………………………9
The Final Game: The Black Mamba’s Last Stand………………………………...14
References………………………………………………………………………....19

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Abstract
The year is 2016. As confetti rains down from the rafters of the Staples Center, Kobe
Bryant slowly marches off the court, drenched in sweat and out of breath. He has just played
the last game of his record-setting career and wowed the crowd of adoring fans.
“Mamba out,” said Bryant, referencing his nickname The Black Mamba, as he lays
down the microphone and walks off the court after a 60-point finale for the ages. It’s an
ending scripted for Hollywood.
Bryant’s final season provides insight into the mindset of someone who reached the
pinnacle of his craft. Learning how others become the best version of themselves is often how we
learn to be the best version of ourselves. What inspired Bryant to persevere through the season
and muster the mental and physical strength to go all out in that final game?
To understand this level of perseverance and determination we need to understand how Bryant got to this
point by exploring his early years, his evolution as a young player trying to prove himself while wearing
No. 8 in the first 10 years of his career and then becoming a mature player wearing No. 24 in his final 10
years. Only then can it be truly understood how he persevered through his final season all the way
through his legendary final game.

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Introduction and Early Years
“He was the physically and mentally toughest player I ever worked with,” said Gary
Vitti, the Lakers’ head athletic trainer for Bryant’s entire career. “He took the words ‘can’t’ and
‘won’t’ out of his lexicon and replaced them with ‘can’ and ‘will.’”
Ramona Shelburne, senior NBA writer for ESPN who covered most of Bryant’s career,
said of Bryant's final season: “It felt like I was traveling with the pope.” Everywhere he went
there were video tributes and montages, she said. “He gave every road city his best and his
attention.”
Bryant’s final season crossed over into other sports and fields. Current Lakers Nation
analyst, former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar and National Wrestling Alliance world
heavyweight champion Chris “The Masterpiece” Masters referred to Bryant as “the most
inspirational athlete I’ve ever seen.”
Who has the audacity to put up 60 points in their final game, and how does one get to this
point? Masters, who reached the pinnacle of physical performance and toughness, can at least
provide some insight.
“Kobe had this competitiveness where to me it felt like when he was competing it was
win or die. He didn’t always win, obviously, but he would die trying to win,” said Masters. “If
he didn’t trust anybody around him, he would be like, ‘All right, if you want something done,
do it yourself,’ which was a polarizing thing because a lot of people would point out, ‘Oh,
he’s taking bad shots. He’s shooting with three defenders on him,’ but that win or die
mentality … there’s nothing better to watch than an athlete with that type of mentality.”
Part of that mentality came from Bryant having been forced to be self-reliant while
growing up in Italy. Bryant was born to Pamela and Joe “Jellybean” Bryant on Aug. 23, 1978.

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His father got the nickname “Jellybean” from a high school teammate because of his variety of
moves despite being so big. His skillset would have fit well into the modern NBA as an allaround
wing player, but his skillset was overlooked as he was ahead of his time.
This led to Bryant being around NBA players in his early life, but as his father’s career
wound down, Bryant moved to Italy when he was 6 years old as his father took his talents
overseas. Mike Kielski, author of “The Rise” conducted more than 100 interviews on Bryant’s
growing up years.
Bryant didn’t speak a word of Italian when he moved there, and was often the only Black
child playing basketball … and also the youngest.
This led to difficulties communicating with teammates and making friends, but led to
hours spent practicing and finding solace honing his basketball craft by himself. Eventually,
Bryant moved back to America and became a high school superstar in Philadelphia, as well as
only the fourth player to ever play in the NBA directly out of high school.
After so much time in Italy, Bryant had become fluent in both the language and culture
of Italy. By the time he returned to the United States, he had to assimilate yet again. This again
led to difficulty fitting in and more hours alone in the gym.
Bryant’s career was marked with overcoming challenges. While many know that the
global icon’s final game was legendary, they may not know the story of the injuries he had to
play through and the determination and willpower it took for him to even perform in that
game, let alone score 60 points.
One of the greatest basketball stars in history was playing with a roster of young talent
still learning the nuances of the NBA, and not yet ready to compete for a championship as
Bryant had done countless times before.

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“This whole goodbye tour was while his team was terrible. … The team sucked. … The
Kobe I knew would not accept this,” said Shelburne.
The fans may have been excited to see Bryant in every city, but Shelburne had a
different view. “I thought it was really nice, and it was special and cool. … But it just felt like
not Kobe to me because to me Kobe was the ultimate competitor.”
Shelburne believed that even though Bryant said he was at peace with all of it, his last
game may have proved otherwise, as on April 13, 2016, the 37-year-old Bryant became the
oldest player to ever score 60 points in an NBA game. But it took an army of trainers and
massage therapists to get him ready each time he played that season.
Preparation began the night before and continued throughout the day. With a multitude
of injuries and aches, his days were spent getting a variety of massages, stretching, taking ice
baths and other types of physical therapies that could help a 20-year veteran, tied for the third
longest career in NBA history, get through the grind of an NBA season.
Bryant was hampered with injuries that bothered him throughout the year, including his
right knee, index finger, Achilles’ heel and right shoulder. If there’s anyone who understands the
pain he played through, it’s Gary Vitti.
Vitti joined the organization in 1984, when Magic Johnson was leading the Showtimes
Lakers, until he retired the same night Bryant retired. Vitti was around Laker greats such as
Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Pau Gasol.
But Bryant was different. Bryant had “The Mamba Mentality.” For anyone associated
with the NBA, and for fans around the world, the Mamba Mentality has become synonymous
with Bryant’s legendary work ethic.
“The Mamba Mentality represents not just basketball, but how you approach your life,”

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said Masters. “I know that there are people who are very competitive in my line of work, but I
can’t say there’s anyone I saw approach their craft like Kobe, and that’s just a testament to
Kobe.” To Masters, the Mamba Mentality was truly inspirational. “Seeing somebody who’s so
focused and so passionate about what they do [that it appeals outside the sport]. [It’s] when you
see somebody who’s doing what they love to do and they’re fiercely competitive about it and
want to be the best.”
Bryant described this mentality to his daughters, in front of a packed audience at Staples
Center, during his jersey retirement ceremony in 2017. “It’s not the destination, it’s the
journey,” Bryant said, locking eyes with his daughters: 14-year-old Natalia and 11-year-old
Gianna. “And if you guys can understand that, then what you’ll see happen is that you won’t
accomplish your dreams. Your dreams won’t come true, something greater will.”
Bryant became the only player to have two jerseys retired by one franchise. He played the
first 10 years of his career wearing No. 8, and the second 10 years wearing No. 24. Both
numbers were plastered on the floor during his final game. The Bryant who retired that night
may have been a beloved star and role model for many, but things weren’t always this way.

#8: The Brash Youngster
Tracy Murray played with Bryant on the Lakers during the 2002-2003 season. Then, in
Bryant’s last season, he became the team’s shooting coach. Before all of this, though, Murray
knew Bryant as a 17-year-old kid who had just arrived in Los Angeles.
Murray was there for the infamous summer pickup game on the Venice Beach outdoor
courts in 1996 when then-18-year-old Kobe Bryant was trying to show L.A. he was the best.
Although his opponent was 10 years older and 6 inches taller, which was often the case in

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Italy as well, Bryant’s competitive nature wouldn’t let him back down. Murray told Bryant he
may hurt himself before his NBA debut, but Bryant wanted to show off his skill in his new
city.
Bryant began the preseason sidelined after breaking his wrist from performing a
devastating crossover dribble before flying through the air for a slam dunk during that fateful
pickup game. It was for reasons like this that Bryant’s nickname in this era was “Showboat.”
But Murray understood that Bryant “wanted to be the best, he wanted to be a champion, and
winning was the drive behind everything.”
In 1998, Bryant became the youngest All-Star starter ever at 19 years old. By the time he
was 23, Bryant had become the youngest player ever to win three championships.
But there was another side to his on-court greatness. Although he was often seen in public
with a smile, Bryant was all business on the court and in the gym.
Bryant’s work ethic is legendary, and Murray saw it firsthand. Every day, Bryant was at
practice well before the rest of the team arrived. Even though Murray was a veteran, he decided
to show up at 7 a.m. and beat Bryant to practice. This would be four hours before the rest of the
team arrived.
When Murray entered the gym … Bryant was already drenched in sweat.
Bryant was hard on himself, and he wasn’t the easiest teammate either at this time. He
could be as hard on others as he was on himself. Murray recalled how Bryant pushed his
teammates’ buttons to make them better players.
He did this the most with Shaquille O’Neal, who was his co-star during those three
championships. O’Neal and Bryant were a beloved duo and pop culture phenomenon, but they
had to be separated from fighting multiple times during their championship run.

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“Did he leave a couple championships on the table? Were there some regrets?” said
Shelburne. “I’m sure there were. … I remember asking him one time, ‘Do you ever think about
how many titles you would have won if you and Shaq didn’t break up?’ Kobe responded, ‘We
would have won every year if Shaq was in shape.’
“That was how he lived. He didn’t leave anything to regret later. That’s why he worked
so hard and pushed himself so hard because he could always say, ‘I did everything possible,’”
said Shelburne. “He didn’t need validation because he knew he did everything he needed to
do.”
The media often debated who was the most important player, and Bryant and O’Neal’s
relationship soured. The Lakers had to pick between the two and went with the younger
Bryant.
O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. Bryant went through some challenging years on the court
and off, including an accusation of sexual assault in 2003, that resulted in a highly publicized
trial in Denver, with all criminal charges being dropped as the lawsuit was settled out of court.
Bryant admitted only to having a consensual sexual encounter and issued a public apology.
Although he had his challenges, his self-reliance and skill led to him scoring 81 points on
Jan. 22, 2006, the second-highest single-game total in NBA history. He had become the NBA’s
best player, but the self-proclaimed talented overachiever had more to prove as a player and a
person.
Shortly after his 81-point scoring outburst his daughter Gianna, who went on to garner
fame at a young age for having a similar work ethic to her father through viral clips of the two
training and attending NBA games together, was born on May 1, 2006. Bryant went through a
dark chapter in his life, career and marriage, but rather than just apologizing he focused a lot of

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his energy into being a better teammate, better father and better husband

#24: An Evolved Kobe Bryant
Starting a new chapter in his career, Bryant switched numbers before the 2006-2007
season. The Black Mamba had evolved from No. 8 to No. 24.
Bryant now had to win championships without O’Neal. Many said it couldn’t be done,
but Bryant won two more to become a five-time champion.
Murray said that part of Bryant’s evolution was becoming a better teammate.
“You saw him become a leader. You saw him become more trusting. You saw him care for his
teammates more,” Murray said.
Bryant, for instance, became close friends with his new co-star, Pau Gasol. Gasol and his family
are still close with the Bryant family today. “In wrestling we talk about heels and babyfaces,”
said Masters. A heel generally refers to a villainized star in wrestling who fans love to boo,
while a babyface refers to the inspirational wrestlers who have a good story or are portrayed as
heroes garnering massive cheers from fans. These wrestlers will often change from heel to
babyface and vice versa throughout their careers. “Kobe was a heel to everybody [other than
Lakers fans]. He did a complete babyface turn in the last few years.”
Even though Bryant’s star began to rise in 1998, arguably the best stretch of his career
came 15 years later. He guaranteed the Lakers would make the playoffs after a slow start to the
20122013 season. Single-handedly willing them into position to compete for his sixth
championship, the veteran played the second-most minutes per game in the league that year, tied
with 2013 Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard, when Bryant was 34 years old.
Bryant had many signature clutch games during this stretch, but perhaps none were more

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impressive than on March 8, 2013, when he hit three consecutive increasingly difficult 3-point
shots in the final two minutes to send the game into overtime, where he made the game-winning
dunk. Even though Bryant’s mentality was unstoppable, his body had limits. He was having
another spectacular game, looking like no one could stop him, when he tore his Achilles’ tendon
on April 12, 2013, during the fourth quarter.
Bryant tried to fix the tendon by massaging it in order to continue playing, but was barely
able to move. With tears in his eyes, Bryant walked to the foul line to shoot free throws for the
Lakers, sinking both shots. Although Bryant’s prime ended that day, it set the stage for his final
season.

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The Final Season: A Legend’s Farewell
Bryant’s final season was also the worst season in Lakers franchise history. It was the
worst season for a franchise that had made 31 NBA Finals appearances and rarely missed the
playoffs.
“Because Kobe knew this was the card he was dealt, he was trying to find another way
to win,” said Mark Medina, who covered Bryant’s final season for the Southern California
News Group and attended nearly every press conference that season. “The definition of
winning became to play through the season without a season-ending injury.”
It was jarring to see the five-time champion, who had a win-or-bust mentality and was
also one of the greatest players of all time, play his final year with the goal of just getting
through.
“To go 20 years, especially with the miles he had on him with all those extra games and
championships … he’s not indestructible and very few guys have gotten to year 20,” said
Howard Beck, who covered Bryant for the Los Angeles Daily News and now, after writing for
the New York Times, is Bleacher Report’s senior NBA writer. “He wasn’t going to let the
Achilles take him out. He was going to go out on his own terms. He could have bowed out at any
point and said that’s it, but Kobe was only going to go out on Kobe’s terms.”
Beck was impressed with Bryant’s dedication to still get out of bed at 6 a.m. so he could
perform at a certain level.
“You have to work that much harder when you get into your mid-to-late 30s to function
in the NBA in an effective way at all,” Beck explained. “The resilience is in being there at all,
and on top of that still having some memorable performances and coming back from the series
of injuries, especially the Achilles [is impressive].”

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When asked about the difficulties of Bryant’s last season, Murray highlighted the team’s
inexperience. Bryant was used to having veteran talent around him, but that year was different.
“Kobe was playing with a bunch of young kids who were talented, but didn’t know how
to play yet,” Murray said. He added that the younger players were often on their phones and had
to be pushed to work hard.
“Kobe said he didn’t understand any of it, because when he was a young guy coming in,
he was a worker,” Murray said. “He outworked everybody. It was like they were speaking two
different languages on the court.”
It may have taken all day and night to get Bryant ready for games, but he wanted to go
out and compete every time he played. Murray said that Bryant was sometimes rusty during
the season and had to miss practices to get his body worked on.
When Bryant couldn’t be the player fans expected, he knew it was time to walk away. On
Nov. 29, 2015, he released a retirement poem called “Dear Basketball.”
“This season is all I have left to give. My heart can take the pounding. My mind can
handle the grind. But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye,” he wrote for what became an
Academy Award-winning screenplay.
It almost seems as if this was all part of Bryant’s plan as Shelburne expanded on how this
helped the notoriously competitive Bryant cope through a losing season, while simultaneously
preparing for his next act. “I think his way of dealing with this bad team was that a lot of his
heart and creative energy was already focused on his next career as a filmmaker and storyteller,”
said Shelburne.
It was less than three years after the poem was released that Bryant collaborated with
legendary Disney animator Glen Keane and all-time great film-score composer John Williams to

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hold true to the Mamba Mentality, winning an Academy Award in his next chapter.
The poem commenced Bryant’s farewell tour, even though he had previously said he
didn’t want one. “If he didn’t have that set of circumstances where the team was losing and he
was injured, he wouldn’t have had a farewell tour,” said Medina, USA Today’s lead NBA
reporter. “In a weird, twisted way, the losing softened him a bit because he knew his sheer will
and talent can’t change this, because it’s so dire, [and he had] to find a different way to win.”
Coming off three consecutive season-ending injuries, nothing was fully healed, and
Bryant played through the pain every game. He made sure the show would always go on.
The first magical moment of the Mamba’s farewell tour was when he returned to his
hometown of Philadelphia for the Lakers’ first road game since he penned his retirement
poem.
Bryant played high school basketball at Lower Merion High School in Suburban
Philadelphia. But his relationship to his hometown was complex.
Local fans booed Bryant when he won the All-Star Game MVP in 2002 because he
played for Los Angeles. He also beat Philadelphia for his second championship the previous
year.
Before the game, he was honored with a customized high school jersey from his high
school coach, Gregg Downer, and Philadelphia basketball legend Julius Erving. The same fans
who booed Bryant now cheered every time he got the ball.
“It was so emotionally draining because he was so used to getting hate in other cities and
feeding off that,” said Serena Winters, who covered the Lakers for Spectrum Sportsnet for six
years, including Bryant’s final season. “Nineteen years of hate was turning into love for him in
his final year.”

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Some other tributes included the Atlanta Hawks naming a snake after the Black Mamba at
their world-famous zoo, and even the Boston Celtics--a team he faced twice in the NBA Finals
and beat in 2010--gave him a piece of their parquet-floor court. However, no tribute stood out as
much as Michael Jordan’s before Bryant’s final game in Charlotte.
Not only is Jordan widely considered the greatest player of all time, but he also now
owns the Charlotte Hornets, which prompted the legend--who rarely speaks in public since his
retirement- to release a public video congratulating Bryant on a career Jordan deemed
“unbelievable.” At the time, no one had been compared to Jordan more than Bryant himself
and that is because Bryant admitted that while growing up in Italy, his only access to the NBA
was videotapes, and Jordan was the player he studied most.
Jordan expounded on this mysterious and intriguing relationship briefly during the tribute
video. He discussed his brotherly relationship with Bryant and that they communicate “all the
time.” Some of his younger teammates, including Julius Randle, were in awe of Bryant
receiving a video tribute from the near-mythical Jordan.
Fans came to say goodbye to Bryant from all over the world, and some of Bryant’s
fiercest rivals spoke of their respect and admiration for him in video tributes. “It was almost
ceremonial,” said Shelburne. “He said goodbye to the fans everywhere he went.”
Shelburne found out later that while the tributes meant a lot, it was Bryant’s personal
meetings with players and athletes who adopted the Mamba Mentality that were the real icing
on the cake. Shelburne remembered a night in Phoenix when future Phoenix Suns superstar and
2021 Western Conference champion Devin Booker stayed after the game to meet with Bryant
along with Arizona Cardinals All-Pro wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and even Mike Trout of
the Los Angeles Angels, who was in town for a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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He had finally become the beloved hero. He outworked everyone for 19 years, and it was time to
enjoy the journey… until the last game.

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The Final Game: The Black Mamba’s Last Stand
“That game still goes down for me as the best sports experience I have ever been a part
of, and I was there for Game 7 of the 2010 Finals as well,” said Winters, one of the most
prominent reporters covering Bryant’s final season. “It really felt like he had to push himself
through each game of that final season, but even more when you look at the final game of that
season.”
The scene was wild outside as well as inside. The Lakers had set up what some called
“Kobe Land,” the Kobe equivalent of Disneyland. Downtown’s streets were closed off, a giant
inflatable Bryant hovered over the pavement, 50-foot photos of Bryant covered every inch of
the Staples Center, and TVs showing his career highlights were on every corner. “The Lakers
are L.A. Now you have a guy that was there 20 years, and everybody saw him grow up from 17
to 37,” said Murray. “If you were a kid, you grew up with him. If you were an adult, you grew
older watching this kid grow up.”
Bryant was not just an icon in Los Angeles, but around the globe. Even if they couldn’t
afford tickets, fans flew in from all over just to be in downtown Los Angeles that night. Fans
from around the world even waited in line to pen a special message to Bryant on giant Styrofoam
boards outside the arena.
Masters remembers the game fondly, but also remembers that it nearly fell apart in the
beginning. “First of all, it was his last game so there was so much emotion behind it for
everybody, but Kobe had a rough start in that game as we all remember. He wasn’t shooting
great and you kind of got worried. You kind of got worried like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s not going
to be a great send-off.”
“It was such a culmination of what he had been pushing himself through,” said Winters.

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“I remember in that first quarter, thinking to myself, he’s missing a bunch of shots. He looks
tired out there. Then it quickly turned.”
After missing his first five shots, Bryant zoned in, hitting five shots in a row. As the
second half began, he got to 40, then 50, even though most expected 20 points at best.
“It was almost funny. We were like, ‘Oh my god he’s going to get 40. He’s going to get
50. He’s going to get 60,’ said Shelburne. “There really wasn’t time to be as sentimental or
have people tear up.”
The stars were out in Hollywood for Bryant’s final game, and their reaction summed up
the night well. “This might be the most important part about it. You see all these celebrities …
they’re like kids,” said Masters. “You see Jack Nicholson jumping up and down. You see Kanye
[West, now known as Ye], who never smiles, and he’s got this grin on his face. Snoop [Dogg]
was dancing… I’ve got goosebumps just talking about it right now.”
Masters has watched the game multiple times for motivation and even from multiple
commentators’ perspectives. “That’s how cool that moment was because you wanted to hear
every commentator’s approach to, ‘OK, Kobe now has the ball, and he can take the lead.’ We
couldn’t even believe it was happening. This is really happening in Kob’s last game? He’s five
out of five for his last five shots, and now he has the ball and can potentially win this game.
There’s so much to this,” said Masters. “It was the greatest send-off for a professional athlete
I’ve ever seen.”
Once he got to 60 points, most media members were on their feet, dumbfounded at what
they’d witnessed. “The whole second half was so unbelievable and crazy that you didn’t even
have time to wax poetic on it or get nostalgic. It was kind of mind-blowing,” said Shelburne.

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“As a media member, you don’t show your emotion. It was a storybook ending as he once
again did the unthinkable. He turned us all into little kids,” recalled Winters.
When Bryant’s body was broken down, what made him able to put on such a physically
demanding performance?
“Winning was the drive behind everything. He hated losing. He did not want to lose his
last game. So, he found something deep inside to push,” Murray said. “He was exhausted after
that game.”
Bryant was gasping for air even as he gave the final moments everything he had. In
typical Kobe Bryant fashion, he hit the game-winner. He hadn’t scored this many points since
his prime.
“Kobe’s last game was played on adrenaline,” said Vitti, his trainer. “He played it like it
was his last game … because it was.”
After the game, Bryant took the microphone and thanked fans for sticking through the
good years and the bad. He looked over at his family and thanked them. He was the hero of the
night, inspiring everyone with his perseverance one last time.
The Mamba was out, as Bryant proclaimed, showered in a bath of purple and gold
confetti.
On Jan. 26, 2020, Bryant tragically died in a helicopter crash with his daughter Gianna and
seven other victims. The world was shaken as people from all walks of life remembered the man
whose impact reached across the globe.
In the first Lakers game since the tragedy, Bryant’s former rival-turned-Laker, LeBron
James, said: “In the words of Kobe Bryant, ‘Mamba Out,’ but in the words of us, ‘Not forgotten.’
Live on Brother.”

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Masters discussed how Bryant’s death impacted him personally as.the world went into
lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after his passing. “I’ve been trying to put my
best foot forward in everything I do. If I’m going to do something, I need to do it to the best of
my ability, whether it be the dishes, vacuuming the floor, working out that day… all of it. Just do
it the best you can.”
Shelburne may have had one of the most unique perspectives on what Bryant wanted his
legacy to be, considering she spent hours with him the day after he faced his basketball
mortality, which gave her many notable insights. “What he wanted to help do was [to help]
people feel inspired, not just give them a road map, but feel inspired and try to become the
greatest version of themselves… to push yourself and to not let failure or difficult times get in
your way…to just keep pushing and pushing and pushing,” said Shelburne.
Bryant still inspires countless players to this day as his impact is still felt regularly
throughout the league. Some players even listen to his interviews for extra motivation while
training.
“There’s a certain relentlessness about him that I don’t know if anybody can capture. I
tried many times over the years, but you just had to experience it to understand how relentless
he was, and that’s what I think about all the time with him,” said Shelburne. “I find him really
inspirational… somebody who doesn’t let heaven or hell stop him. ‘Come hell or high water,
I’m going to make sure that if we don’t win it’s not because I didn’t try hard enough or push
myself hard enough… so face your fears.’”
Even though Kobe Bryant may have passed on, his legacy lives on forever. “I think he
had a lot more to do and a lot more to say in this life,” said Shelburne.
Bryant not only won an Oscar after his basketball career, but also went on to write five

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New York Times best-selling books. One of his biggest legacies off the court was his
dedication to being a father to his four girls, highlighted by the fact that he died with his 13-
year-old daughter Gianna on the way to coach one of her basketball games. This fact became
especially prominent after ESPN’s Elle Duncan shared a story about how much Kobe loved
being a “girl dad” which went viral and inspired fathers all over the world to share their own
love of raising daughters.
Shelburne finished her interview saying, “It’s hard for me to think about him in the past
tense, but he really did leave a legacy of [the Mamba Mentality] and I think people all over the
world know what that means.”

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black- mamba/122000/.

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Ventures, April 14, 2016. https://www.espn.com/nba/game?gameId=400829115.

Associated Press. “Lakers vs. Knicks - Game Summary - February 2, 2009.” ESPN. ESPN
Internet Ventures, February 3, 2009.
https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/290202018.

Associated Press. “Raptors vs. Lakers - Game Summary - January 22, 2006.” ESPN. ESPN
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The year is 2016. As confetti rains down from the rafters of the Staples Center, Kobe Bryant slowly marches off the court, drenched in sweat and out of breath. He has just played the last game of his record-setting career and wowed the crowd of adoring fans.
“Mamba out,” said Bryant, referencing his nickname The Black Mamba, as he lays down the microphone and walks off the court after a 60-point finale for the ages. It’s an ending scripted for Hollywood.
Bryant’s final season provides insight into the mindset of someone who reached the pinnacle of his craft. Learning how others become the best version of themselves is often how we learn to be the best version of ourselves. What inspired Bryant to persevere through the season and muster the mental and physical strength to go all out in that final game?
To understand this level of perseverance and determination we need to understand how Bryant got to this point by exploring his early years, his evolution as a young player trying to prove himself while wearing No. 8 in the first 10 years of his career and then becoming a mature player wearing No. 24 in his final 10 years. Only then can it be truly understood how he persevered through his final season all the way through his legendary final game.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Trepel, Skyler Colton Link (author)

Core Title Mamba out: the story of Kobe Bryant's final season

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 04/19/2022

Defense Date 04/19/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Bryant,Kobe,Kobe Bryant,Lakers,Los Angeles Lakers,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Fellenzer, Jeff (committee chair), Daglas, Cristina (committee member), Turner, Miki (committee member)

Creator Email skylertrepel8@gmail.com,trepel@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111023122

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Format application/pdf (imt)

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Source 20220420-usctheses-batch-930 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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