"Greatest worker ever to play in the NBA" - UCLA head coach Mike Cronin chooses Kobe Bryant over Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the hardest worker in NBA history
Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are among the greatest players in the history of basketball. However, in the debate about the greatest of all time, only James and Jordan's names tend to pop up. However,for UCLA head coach Mick Cronin, Kobe Bryant is the best .
In an interview with Elie Seckbach of Es News, Cronin was asked about his favorite Bryant moment. Cronin said that he coached a 17-year-old Bryant during Magic Johnson's Roundball Classic. The UCLA head coach also lauded the late great LA Lakers legend as the hardest working player in NBA history.
"Kobe will always be known as the hardest working player. The greatest player ever is debatable, you know? We all hear the LeBron–Michael one, but it’s undebatable who the greatest worker ever to play in the NBA," Cronin said.
He continued:
"The most committed athlete who put the most time in to maximize his ability and become one of the best players ever, that was Kobe Bryant. Nobody will ever surpass him as the hardest working player ever," Cronin added.
There's no doubt Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest workers in NBA history. Jordan even acknowledged Bryant's work ethic in the book Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby. The stories about his early practices are legendary, with many former teammates narrating them.
Jordan's work ethic has also been legendary, as he was the inspiration of Bryant. It also does not mean James is not a hard worker. He has developed his game every season since 2003. He wouldn't have been in the GOAT conversation had he did not worked hard for it.
Stories about Kobe Bryant's insane work ethic
Bryant's "Mamba Mentality" and work ethic have inspired a lot of current and future NBA players. With his death in 2020, the stories about his hard work will start to become folklore. Here are a couple of the craziest tales about Bryant's insane work ethic.
Byron Scott played with a young Bryant in 1997. He was surprised to see Bryant shooting in a dark gym two hours before practice. It was at that moment Scott knew Bryant would become a great player.
"I heard the ball bouncing. No lights were on. Practice was at about 11, it was probably about 9, 9:30. And I go out to the court and I look, and there's Kobe Bryant. He's out there shooting in the dark. And I stood there for probably about ten seconds, and I said, 'This kid is gonna be great,' Scott said.
Dwyane Wade played with Bryant in Team USA at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. During one of their preparations for the 2008 Beijing Games in Las Vegas, Wade told ESPN that Bryant already had his workout while they were waking up.
"Everybody else just woke up. We're still stretching and yawning and looking at Kobe like, 'What the f**k?'. We're all yawning, and he's already three hours and a full workout into his day," Wade said.