He’s been balling for a dirty dozen, and what does he have? Three rings and one abiding passion: to win. Kobe sits down with Complex founder Marc Ecko to discuss legacy, image and who can do more push-ups.

Story By Marc Ecko; Photography by Robyn Twomey; Styling by Kelly McCabe

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(groomer) brynn doering for artistuntied.com; (LOCATION) LE RIVAGE HOTEL, SACRAMENTO, CA.; (photos) Fabolous demo: getty images; remainder: ap photo

So when LeBron talks about Warren Buffett and wanting to be the first billion-dollar athlete, is that one of your ambitions as well?

Kobe Bryant: Not really. What I really pride myself on doing is finding something that I enjoy doing. If you love it, the financial part will come later. I love marketing. I love advertising, coming up with concepts. I enjoy doing that.

On the convergence of all that, talk to me about this new shoe [The Zoom Kobe IV].

Kobe Bryant: Well, you know we’re gonna get real techie, because when it comes to basketball, I don’t mess around.

I’ve heard that about you.

Kobe Bryant: Nah, we don’t fool around.

But you don’t want to get down with push-ups?

Kobe Bryant: This guy swears he can beat me in push-ups! I can hear it in his tone.

I just wanna be able to say I did.

Kobe Bryant: But you see, just ’cause of that, I will not let you win. I’m not gonna let you run around saying you beat me in some damn push-ups.

We’d have video footage, too.

Kobe Bryant: It’s not happening, dog. But let’s get to the shoe. So I sit down with the Nike team, and the main designer in particular—his name is Eric Avar, and he’s absolutely brilliant. He and I just sit down and vibe out. I throw a lot of stuff at him, stuff that might seem impossible, but then they go in the [Innovation Kitchen] and they come up with it. The thing with this shoe, I wanted it to be lighter, I wanted it to be quicker, I wanted it to be sleeker, and I wanted it to play close to the floor. Sometimes a lot of shoes have too much support, too much cushion in ’em, and you can’t feel the floor beneath you when you’re cutting and making moves.

I like that they’re low-top, from an aesthetic point of view and a trend perspective. This is a meaningful off-court shoe as well.

Kobe Bryant: I’ve been wearing high-tops for so long, it felt like the movement of my ankle was restricted, like I couldn’t even cut as well or as sharply as I’d like to. And I like soccer—I love the sport, just from growing up in Italy—so I was watching it on TV one day and just looking at the way they move and how they cut. They put twice as much torque on their ankles as we do, but they were playing in shoes that were lower cut than this. So my mind got to thinking, You know what, maybe it’s time to do that in basketball. And they were able to come up with a shoe that fit that description perfectly.

Do you have any regrets when you think about how your image was cultivated early on, as compared to today, when there’s a more mature Kobe?

Kobe Bryant: I wouldn’t have been as naïve. I would’ve paid more attention to what was going on. I never read the press, never watched TV. The only thing that mattered to me was playing the game, and I was kind of oblivious to everything else that was going on outside of that.

Does reading the press matter now?

Kobe Bryant: Well, it does from the standpoint of making sure that your image is what you are, you know what I mean? Because that’s something that I take stock in and that I care about. So from the standpoint of making sure you have a team around you that supports you, making sure that if somebody doesn’t like you they don’t like you, and not what they say you are. That’s something that I’ve had to adjust to.

You’re 30 now, and the majority of your career is behind you. How do you reflect on that?

Kobe Bryant: Everybody has different paths in their careers. And mine was right for me. Everything happens for a reason, so what I went through brought me to this spot right now, the team that I have at this moment. So what I’m trying to do now is have this team be the best that we can be and try to win one more title, and then go from there.

You have three. That’s not enough?

Kobe Bryant: As long as we’re playing basketball, we wanna win the championship.

Is that a fair burden, though? I think about teams like the Lakers, the Yankees: Fans just don’t allow you guys to lose!

Kobe Bryant: [Laughs.] Right.

It’s thankless! You go out and score 81 points, and it’s not enough. What kind of burden is that to carry?

Kobe Bryant: It depends how you look at it. You can look at it and say, “That’s a lot of pressure,” “That’s a burden,” “That’s not fair.” But the way I look at it is, it’s exciting. I mean, if people expect you to win a championship, that means you got the right pieces to win a championship, and now it’s about going out there and doing it.

The rings, the Olympics, the Forrest Gump moments, Brandy at the prom—

Kobe Bryant: Yo, you still stuck on that, though! That’s like 30 years ago! [Laughs.]

You were young, hungry, arriving at the doors. It’s supposed to keep you satiated, but what’s the biggest letdown about success?

Kobe Bryant: If you feel like the biggest joy of your success comes from actually attaining what you set out to do, then that’s the letdown. I’m sure you can attest to this, too—the best part about it is the journey.

The hunt.

Kobe Bryant: It’s always the hunt. And then once you finally get that championship or that magazine or whatever it is, you look back on all those
moments that it took you to get to that point, and that’s where the fun is. That’s what the taste is.

Talk to me about a private failure that wasn’t in the headlines, the thing that just keeps you up at night. Something people can relate to. Not necessarily a public thing, but a thing you twist and turn over.

Kobe Bryant: [Long pause] Dogshit? Like, I hate dogshit. I have a dog and I do not clean the crap outside. It’s a phobia. It drives me crazy. You wake up in the morning and you think, Damn, this big ol’ German shepherd probably just took a crap outside in the yard, and I gotta wake up and go pick it up. That is something that keeps me tossin’ and turnin’. Does that qualify? Home // CELEBRITIES // COVER STORY // Kobe Bryant