Kobe Bryant, Game 5, and the Birth of #MambaMentality

On May 12, 1997, the #1 seed Utah Jazz hosted game 5 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the #4 Los Angeles Lakers at the Delta Center. The Jazz were up 3–1. And with 1:46 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, Shaquille O’Neal, the centerpiece of the newly-competitive Lakers team fouled out.

As the clock ticked towards 0:00, Lakers coach Del Harris drew up a play for Bryant. With 10 seconds left and the score tied at 89, Bryant — “the rookie straight from high school” — dribbled the ball up the floor, where he was met by Bryon Russell. With five seconds left, Bryant gave Russell a stutter step and drove hard right stoped on a dime and pulled up for a jumper at the elbow. It’s a good look; Bryant squared up and elevated. But he threw up an airball that Karl Malone grabbed to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, Bryant shot three more airballs. The Lakers lost 98–93.

No doubt about it, this moment, Bryant’s first high-profile failure in the League, isn’t the Jordan // Game 6 moment Jay-Z raps about.

Still, these big failures are the moments when clutch players and legendary careers begin. On May 12, 1997, #MambaMentality was born.

Harris knew that Bryant would have more high-pressure shots in his career. And he knew Bryant was capable of moving through the necessary failures in order to become a clutch, legendary player.

“He’s an excellent one-on-one player,” Harris said after the game. “I’d give him that shot again anytime.”

John Stockton, who would lead the Jazz in their first NBA Finals against Michael Jordan and the Bulls, knew what Bryant was capable of too. “Kobe is a young guy and it is all new,” Stockton said.

“I’ll just work hard this summer and keep this game in mind,” Bryant said after the game. “Like my father always told me, ‘To win some, you’ve got to lose some.’”

After the loss, the Lakers flew back home, arriving in Los Angeles at 2 a.m. Bryant went home for a few hours of sleep, then woke in the early morning hours so he could practice at Pacific Palisades High School. Over the course of three hours, he played a shadow ball and put up hundreds of jumpers while the rest of the league slept.

Jerry West knew about Kobe’s fierce, resilient spirit. Later that summer, he said the Philadelphia Inquirer, “You can be sure he went to that same spot and started shooting,” referring to the spot of the first airball.

Years later, in a one-on-one interview with Bryant, O’Neal reflected on his younger teammate’s first playoff disappointment.

“One thing that I loved about you as an 18-year-old is you wanted it,” Shaq said in 2018. “A lot of guys on our team didn’t want it, but you wanted it as an 18-year-old. And that’s why in the Utah game, everybody talks about those airballs, I wasn’t mad at you. That’s why, I was the first one to come grab you and say, ‘hey, I know everybody’s laughing and giggling now but one day people will fear you at the end of the game.”

That is #MambaMentality.

In 2016, before a trip back to Salt Lake City, Bryant reflected on his first playoff run, and those airballs.

“I think it was an early turning point for me being able to deal with adversity, being able to deal with public scrutiny and self-doubt and things of that sort,” Bryant said. “Eighteen years old, it was gut check time. I look back at it now with fond memories of it, but back then it was misery.”

Misery or not, Bryant was comfortable with the edge from the drop. He stepped into discomfort and uncertainty. He knew he had to fail in order to win. He was willing, time and time again, to dare greatly, to step into the arena, to risk being seen at the end of the game when it mattered most for him and his team.

I think a lot about Kobe these days. What would he do now? How would he lead? How would he serve? No doubt, this is the time for #MambaMentality.

To be outrageously courageous.

To be fierce in our vulnerability.

To want it, like Kobe.