Nick Van Exel Reveals Why Nobody Worked Like Lakers Legend Kobe Bryant

Former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Nick Van Exel recalls Kobe Bryant's relentless drive, revealing how the Hall of Famer responded to adversity and outworked everyone around him.

Apr 13, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) waves to the crowd as he heads to the bench before the end of the Lakers win over the Utah Jazz at Staples Center. Bryant scored 60 points in the final game of his career. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Ever since his tragic passing in 2020, many stories have emerged about Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and the impact he had on his former teammates and others he interacted with throughout his 20-year NBA career.

One player who saw Bryant’s ascension up close and personal was Nick Van Exel. The talented guard who quickly became a star in Los Angeles in the post-Magic Johnson era played for the Lakers from 1993 to 1998 and shared the court with Bryant for the first two years of the future Hall of Famer’s professional career in purple and gold.

The former Lakers star recently opened up about what he saw from Bryant during his time playing alongside him in Los Angeles on Out of the Mud with Tony Allen and Zach Randolph.

Nick Van Exel Opens Up About Kobe's Work Ethic

Nick van excel talks to Tony Allen and zach Randolph about playing with a 18 year old Kobe Bryant with the lakers and the work ethic he used to have pic.twitter.com/SpHFBGfswU

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“Kobe always used to say, ‘I’m the best one-on-one player in the league.’ And this is like as an 18-year-old,” Van Exel said. “Practices were crazy, because Kobe always felt like he was a one-on-one player, and being young, we’ve all been young, we’re trying to come for whoever’s up there, and that’s how he felt. He wanted Eddie’s [Jones] spot, he wanted [Cedric] Ceballos, he wanted all them cats at that wing position.”

Like every Lakers fan who followed Bryant’s career that spanned two decades in Los Angeles, he was relentless in his pursuit of greatness while doing everything he could to compete with his idol and six-time NBA champion, Michael Jordan.

Even though Bryant eventually went on to be a five-time champion and become the closest thing we’ve seen compared to Jordan, the Lakers legend’s path to greatness didn’t come without a few bumps in the road.

Bryant’s most infamous on-court struggles came in the 1997 NBA playoffs against the Utah Jazz, when he shot four airballs, knocking the team out of the postseason. 

Kobe’s Work Ethic Was One of a Kind

Van Exel talked about witnessing those struggles and how they didn’t stop him; rather, they motivated him to be the best player he could be.

“That’s why when he shot the airballs, we got back to L.A., and he went straight to the gym and started shooting and got better,” Van Exel said of Bryant. “I played with Manu [Ginobili] and Dirk [Nowitzki], and those are the two guys I would say worked the hardest, but Kobe ran laps around them when it comes to working. It wasn’t even close. His work ethic was stupid. … His work ethic was unbelievable. I hate these young cats now that say ‘Mamba Mentality’ and don’t work. I hate it. Because I know what he did and I know the work he put in.”

Van Exel is one of many who have shared what they saw from Bryant from a work ethic perspective, and he likely won’t be the last, as stories continue to surface over the years.

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