Novak Djokovic with his Mamba Mentality shirt at the US Open 2023 (US Open Twitter)
The ‘Mamba Mentality’ was made world famous by the great Kobe Bryant and Novak Djokovic was quick to bring that up after another Grand Slam win
The Australian Open seems to be synonymous with Novak Djokovic. The Serbian has won 10 Australian Open slams in his career, but he also seems to be doing great in the other Grand Slams.
Djokovic has 24 Grand Slams to his name thanks to the happenings at Flushing Meadows last night. He was up against Daniil Medvedev and the Serbian picked up a straight-sets win over his Russian rival at the 2023 US Open.
Djokovic won the match 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 and made relatively light work of the Russian. This was another feather in the cap of the Serbian and cemented his place as the GOAT (Greatest of all time) when it comes to tennis.
Djokovic also decided to pay homage to one of the greatest basketball stars of all time, Kobe Bryant. The American won several NBA titles during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the shirt that Djokovic put on had the words ‘Mamba Mentality’ on it.
Bryant passed away on 26 January, 2020 after a tragic helicopter crash. Eight others passed away in the tragic accident, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.
While Bryant passed away way too soon, his ‘Mamba Mentality’ has lived on.
Many superstars across the world of sport have brought up the ‘Mamba Mentality.’ This was a phrase associated with Kobe Bryant during his playing days and the NBA star really took it to heart.
Bryant opened up on what and how he came up with the ‘Mamba Mentality.’
In a piece on ET Online, Bryant was speaking during his 2016 Mamba Mentality tour and spoke about how he was pushing children through so many training drills and he said the words ‘mamba mentality’ to himself.
Bryant continued saying that this phrase meant being the best version of yourself and pushing to get better every day:
“To sum up what mamba mentality is, it means to be able to constantly try to be the best version of yourself.
“That is what the mentality is. It’s a constant quest to try to better today than you were yesterday.”
Bryant further explained this mentality during an Amazon Book review in 2018. The former NBA star spoke about trusting that “hard work” matters the most.
One of Bryant’s best quotes from that time has been used by many: “Hard work outweighs talent — every time.”
Bryant was known for practising at odd hours in the morning and working extremely hard, which has been taken up by many across the world.
The origins of Bryant’s ‘Black Mamba’ nickname also seem to have come from Kill Bill. The movie had the world mamba snake as a code for a deadly assassin.
Bryant was a deadly assassin on the basketball courts for sure. He was incredible and his work ethic is still one of the aspects sports stars try to strive for.
The NBA legend might be gone for now, but his ‘Mamba Mentality’ continues to push people to become better at their craft every single day.
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