“Mamba mentality is about 4 a.m. workouts, doing more than the next guy, and then trusting in the work you’ve put in when it’s time to perform.” Powerful, right? But if you’re uninitiated and don’t know who said this line, here’s a quick glimpse at his resume: 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, averaged 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists over 1,346 games. Selected for 18 All-Star Games. One MVP. Two Finals MVPs. Five championships. And a Hall of Famer since 2020. Now, even a non-hoops fan can make that guess: it’s none other than Kobe Bryant.Not everyone gets a front-row seat to that kind of greatness, but Wesley Johnson did. He spent nine seasons in the NBA, averaging 7.0 points and 3.2 rebounds over 609 regular-season games. He played for six teams, including the Lakers, where from 2013 to 2015 he shared the court with Kobe Bryant, who was nearing the end of his career. But you’d never know it. Even with retirement looming, Kobe was still outworking everyone—still going 1000%. Greatness, to him, had no off switch.And that fire? Johnson felt it up close. “It always stuck out with me when he was actually recovering,” Johnson said on Run It Back, remembering the spring of 2013. “So when he, it was really like rehabbin’, he was like, ‘we’re getting in the gym,’ and I’m looking at him like, ‘what you mean? Bro, you can’t walk.” The season had just ended—April 12th, he said. And by April 14th, Kobe was already hobbling into the gym with JJ Outlaw rebounding for him, telling Wesley, “Let’s get to it.” Johnson still couldn’t believe it—“Show me, bro. You can’t walk!” But Kobe didn’t care. He wasn’t moving fast, just inching around, doing one-drill pull-ups, 25 shots a spot, right, left, fadeaways, shimmy shots—for three hours straight. Jeez!Dec 9, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Nick Young (0), guard Kobe Bryant (24), and forward Wesley Johnson (11) during the National Anthem before the game against the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY SportsThat was Johnson’s crash course in what the Mamba Mentality really meant. “It was incredible,” he said. From that moment in April all the way to August, Johnson watched Kobe push through pain, elevate daily, and build his way back up. “And when he left to go to China, he FaceTimed me like, ‘Are you working?’” It was real—Kobe called from 6,880 miles away, just to know if Wesley was keeping up with the workouts. That was the moment Johnson truly understood—this wasn’t some myth or sales pitch. “This is my introduction to him, like really getting to see what Kobe was about,” he said. “Like the dog mentality, that confidence, that Mamba Mentality. It wasn’t like a sale—this is real. So, for me, I was introduced to it, and I was thankful to be able to see that.”Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles tendon on April 12, 2013—but instead of collapsing, he stayed in the game, stepped to the free-throw line, and drained both shots to tie it up. Think about that. A torn Achilles. Most players would’ve needed a stretcher. Not Kobe. He literally walked himself to the line and then off the court, refusing any help. That night, he had 34 points in 48 minutes against the Warriors, dragging the Lakers, who had underperformed all season, closer to the playoffs with sheer willpower.What’s wild is that Achilles’ injury wasn’t just a tweak—it was the kind of tear that usually ends a season instantly, maybe a career. But Kobe wasn’t built like most. He’d been playing almost every minute of every game leading up to that moment, pushing through warning signs because he promised the Lakers would make the playoffs. And he delivered. Even longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti remembered Kobe throwing shade at Paul Pierce afterwards, making a point to walk off on his own, no wheelchair, no drama. Just pure Mamba.Kobe also had an underrated trait that is often overlooked. Wesley Johnson sheds some light on that.Kobe Bryant didn’t just teach—he wanted to learn, too.Most people think Kobe Bryant just barked orders and expected perfection, but Wesley Johnson saw the other side. Kobe didn’t just want to lead; he wanted to grow. “He respects when people do that to him,” Johnson said to the Basketball Network. “He does something wrong, let him know.” That was the unspoken rule: hold each other accountable, no matter who you were. And Kobe? He welcomed that energy. He didn’t want a team full of yes-men—he wanted teammates who had the guts to call him out, just like he would for them. That’s how you earned his respect.For Johnson, it wasn’t rocket science. If you wanted to vibe with Kobe, you had to drop the ego and soak up game. “You have to be a student, put your ego aside, just try to learn and take it from there,” he said. And when Wesley showed he was willing to learn, Kobe poured into him. “You play like this all the time, and you’ll be an All-Star,” he told Johnson after a 29-point game at Staples. That was Kobe’s thing—he wasn’t going to flatter you just to be nice, but when you showed flashes of greatness? He noticed.Robert Horry caught that same vibe, just in a way only Kobe could deliver. One time on a team flight, Kobe tried learning how to play Spades, and Horry joked, “You Black, you supposed to know how to play Spades, dude.” But behind the laugh was something deeper. “The thing he had [that] nobody told me was his thirst for knowledge. He had a thirst for everything,” Horry said. Whether it was footwork from Hakeem or a simple card game, Kobe was always learning, always chasing mastery. That obsession? That was the Mamba Mentality.Wesley Johnson didn’t just witness the Mamba Mentality—he lived it. To him, Kobe wasn’t just greatness personified; he was proof that greatness stays curious, coachable, and consistent.The post Witnessing Kobe Bryant’s One-Legged Drills, Former Teammate Recalls Demands From 6880 Miles Away appeared first on EssentiallySports.