Kobe Bryant GQ March 2010

For fourteen grueling seasons, Kobe Bryant has cracked, fractured, strained, torn, cut, bruised, nicked, and risked every party of his finely tuned self. And he’s got the rings – and the scars – to show for it. In the March issue of GQ, J.R. Moehringer sits down with the notoriously private, Lakers co-captain to discuss his many injuries, going to the Olympics, and his famously volatile relationship with Shaq.

On being surrounded by the best of the best athletes at the Olympics:
“I felt like Harry Potter going to Hogwarts.”

On his relationship with Shaq:
“The biggest mistake I made was responding to what he was saying about me. Once I responded, now that made it seem like I was part of that whole thing. It’s like, Okay, these two are against each other. As opposed to just staying quiet, which is what I’ve been
doing the last few years. Let him say what he needs to say.”

On how his win-at-all-costs mindset doesn’t carry over to the rest of his life:
“What people see on court is another side of me; it’s not me. That dark side that’s coming to get you – ha ha! I’m not losing this fucking game – that’s not who I am. That’s part of me. Off the court, I’m completely different.”

http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201003/kobe-bryant

Photo Credit: Terry Richardson/GQ