One positive to come from the rise of basketball podcasts around the world is the number of stories being shared about Kobe Bryant. It\u2019s been a while since the world tragically lost the beloved superstar, but his legend continues to grow. Teammates and rivals still speak about his incredible work ethic, and each story adds to the belief that he was the most competitive player of all time. Corey Maggette has one such story, and it perfectly captures the essence of the Black Mamba.<\/p>\n
Magette, on a recent episode of\u00a0Basement Talk,\u00a0spoke highly of Bryant and his training regimen. That\u2019s not breaking news, of course, but the now-retired NBA star did share something not many would have known about.<\/p>\n
Kobe once asked the former Clipper if he could join him for a workout. But in true Kobe fashion, he wanted to do it his way, on his terms, with his intensity.<\/p>\n
Maggette set the stage. \u201cHe wanted to ask if I could work out with him. We were going to meet over at Equinox,\u201d he stated before speaking as Kobe. \u201cAlright, meet me there at 6. We gonna start training at 6.\u2019 I\u2019m like, in my mind, \u2018Man why can\u2019t we just train at 8 or 9?\u2019 This dude wanted to train at 6.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corey did what he thought was a smart move and showed up early, proud of the fact that he had arrived before Bryant. \u201cI get there at like 5:30. I\u2019m like, \u2018Man, I beat Kobe here.\u2019 I was happy about that. I\u2019m like, \u2018Alright, I know I\u2019m a good worker, I beat him to the gym.’\u201dBut a hard truth was about to hit the former Pistons and Clippers player. It was a moment that revealed the kind of mental edge Kobe was always chasing.<\/p>\n
\u201cKobe pulled up in his Range Rover. He gets out of the car with his trainer. I was like, \u2018Hey, I beat you here.\u2019 He laughed and walked right in,\u201d\u00a0he recalled<\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cHis trainer behind him said, \u2018Corey, do you know that we started at 330 in the morning? We were on the track first. We shot. Kobe actually came here for you, to do an extra workout with you. So just so you know, you didn\u2019t beat him here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The panel was stunned, as was Maggette, while he relived the moment. It\u2019s the one thing no one can fully grasp. No matter how hard you worked, Kobe worked harder. No matter how badly you wanted it, Kobe wanted it more. \u201cHe took everything very seriously,\u201d Maggette concluded.<\/p>\n Maggette, too, has been lauded for his workout ethic<\/p>\n Maggette should feel no shame. He built his own reputation for training like a madman. Just ask four-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala,<\/a> who spoke highly of Corey during a recent appearance on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw Corey Maggette working out and I was like, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s how you work out,’\u201d stated the ex-Warriors star. This intrigued Melo and the rest of the panel, who were eager to know what made Maggette stand out so much in Iguodala\u2019s eyes. \u201cHe was going crazy hard. He just did everything hard,\u201d Iggy stated.<\/p>\n