Kobe Bryant has never been one to shy away from the fact that winning is the most important thing to him in regards to playing basketball. To Kobe the friendships he has developed do not matter as much as the five NBA Championships that he has won throughout the years and he has never shied away from that fact. In fact, just this summer Bryant dropped the line, “friends come and go but banners hang forever” in an interview at the BET awards. Now Bryant is working on trademarking a variation of that phrase.
There really isn’t another NBA player that would trademark a phrase like this, but Kobe will surely sell a ton of whatever type of merchandise that he puts the phrase on. People love Kobe and part of the reason why is the singular devotion to winning above anything else, so this attitude and saying will speak to them.
On the other hand, this is really the second best Kobe response of all time in regards to the cost of winning. The first was back in June during a Q&A he held on Twitter. Bryant was asked about his response to those who say he is a selfish basketball player and here was his response.
At the very least it is nice to see Kobe staying consistent as he ages and leaves the game.