https://twitter.com/OldManAndThree/status/1316842777599115264?s=20
Duke 傳奇教練 Mike Krzyzewski 分享了2008年 “Redeem Team”和 Kobe 的故事：
“When we were starting to build a culture at USA basketball, and [Bryant],
Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd were added. … We’re getting ready for
Beijing, I’m with my staff in Vegas…and all of a sudden there’s a knock on
the door, two days early, and it’s Kobe,” Krzyzewski remembered. “He said,
‘I want to guard the best perimeter player on every team that we play.’
Now, he’s the NBA scoring champ, he’s the best player in the league at
that time. … And he knew that he would have to change a little bit and be a
leader.
「當我們要開始在美國隊建立起國家隊的籃球文化時，
Bryant、Chauncey Billups 和 Jason Kidd 加入了我們。」
「我們那時正在為啟程前往北京做準備，我和我的團隊待在拉斯維加斯...
突然之間有人敲我的門，提前了整整兩天，來的人是 Kobe。」
「他說：『我想要防守每一支我們碰到的球隊裡面，最強的外圍球員』，
他是 NBA聯盟的得分王，他在那時是全聯盟最好的球員。
而他知道這個場合，他要做出一些改變，去成為一名領袖。」
“And then he pauses — and, you know him and Jordan had the same eyes, they
killed you with their eyes — and he leans forward and he said, ‘Coach, I
promise you I’ll destroy ’em.’”
「然後他停頓了半晌 — 而你也知道他和 Jordan 有著相同的眼神，
他們能用眼神殺死你 — 然後俯身附耳和我說道『教練，我保證我會消滅他們。』」
“The first practice he doesn’t take a shot,” Krzyzewski added. “So I call
him over afterwards … I said, ‘I’ve seen you destroy teams offensively.
Will you shoot the friggin’ ball?’ And he said from then on, I was the only
coach ever to ask him to shoot.”
「在我們第一次球隊練習時，他一次都沒出手，」
「所以我在那之後給他打了電話，
我說：『我曾看過你用進攻摧毀敵隊，你可以出手投那該死的球嗎？』
然後他跟我說：我是從以前到現在，唯一一個要求他出手投籃的教練。」
“He had this vision of moments. He knew that for us to win the gold medal we
would have to beat Argentina … and he wanted to guard Ginobili. Believe me,
he already had that figured out. It wasn’t just to set an example for the
team. … So, we do play Argentina in the semis, and we’re beating them by 20
points and Ginobili gets hurt … and it becomes a six-point game, because now
[Kobe’s] not interested anymore. That’s who he was.”
「他有著覺察那種關鍵時刻的視野。他知道要贏得金牌我們就必須擊敗阿根廷，
而他想要去防守 Ginobili，相信我，他非常早就弄清楚這會是關鍵。
不僅僅是為了替整支球隊樹立榜樣。」
「所以，我們確實在準決賽碰上阿根廷，並且大勝二十分，Ginobili受傷了，
你會想，那我們豈不是要贏四十分了，結果卻變成六分差，因為，
Kobe 已經對這支阿根廷沒興趣了，他就是這樣的人，上天祝福他。」