Ettore Messina: Kobe Bryant’s Italian is better than my English

The interest and attention Kobe Bryant draws not only in the US but all over the world is amazing. Since I moved over here everybody has been asking questions like «What does it take to play the way he does?», «What is it like to have him in practice?» or «How great is he?» He’s always in demand with public and media. It gets to a point where I think sometimes he really needs to be shielded from all this never ending curiosity.

Kobe is surely a special player and also a successor of a basketball dynasty. His father Joe played both in the NBA and in Europe; he had a long and successful career in Italy to be exact. During my stint with Virtus Bologna I coached against a team led by Joe Bryant and I can tell he was a good player.

So, Italy is where Kobe grew up and learned fundamentals of basketball. And it shows – sometimes he speaks to me in Italian, and it’s really fluent. Strong argument could be made that his Italian is better than my English.

What strikes me first and foremost in Kobe Bryant is his ability to anticipate things. He always seems to know where the next pass will go, what the next defensive rotation will be, how the offense needs to react. Some of that could be innate, but most comes from the fact he’s always eager to learn. It’s not uncommon for him to ask our video coordinator for the materials and then spend hours during team flights analyzing our own game and breaking down the opponents’ tendencies. For me, it’s also been very interesting to follow Kobe’s transition from the Triangle to the offense coach Brown is implementing.

Physically, he’s in outstanding shape. Of course, if you’re 33 you can’t be as spry as your 23-year-old self. Still, Kobe’s movements remain amazingly smooth and balanced. And his hands are real quick, especially the way he catches or shoots the ball.

Of course, Kobe’s numerous virtues and outstanding abilities have been well-documented by sportswriters everywhere. So I won’t say anything you didn’t already know if I also stress his ability to play through injuries. You could see it earlier this season when he was dropping 40-point games and leading the league in scoring with an ailing wrist, perhaps you’ll see another proof from now on as Kobe will try not to let the broken nose and concussion suffered at the All-Star Game slow him down.

Kobe is very demanding of himself and people around him. He’s always motivated, always pushing for new achievements, goals, wins. Since day one it’s been fascinating to see his dedication as he was using the severely shortened training camp to prepare himself for the season. He just wants to win and is willing to do whatever it takes.

At the same time, Kobe shows great respect in dealing with coaches. He’s been very supportive from the start. It seems he understands the roles perfectly which is very important because he’s actually the primary source of chemistry and stability for this new project which is the current Lakers team.

This role, by the way, is somewhat similar to what Andrey Kirilenko does for CSKA this season. I’ve been able to exchange a couple of words with Andrey several times in the past and it’s clear he’s happy to embrace this role of an ultimate leader and glue guy within the team and the club. What CSKA and personally Andrey are accomplishing this season will undoubtedly earn him a lot of additional respect – not to say he isn’t already universally respected.