NBA: Former Los Angeles Laker Regrets Not Listening To Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant spent the tail end of his legendary career playing alongside a younger generation of Lakers, so it goes without saying that the five-time NBA Champion had transitioned from being the main guy to a mentor to the up and coming guns of his team during that span before hanging it up.

One of the players that were fortunate enough to pick the brains of the Black Mamba is Golden State Warriors guard D’Angelo Russell who played for the Lakers for two years, including his rookie year as a teammate of the basketball icon in 2015-2016. The former No.2 overall pick admitted, though, that he was not able to make the most out of the chance of being a student of the mythical Mamba Mentality academy.

Now in his fourth year in the NBA with an All-Star badge on his chest, the 23-year-old rising star rued blowing the opportunity to capitalize on having Kobe on his side as not everybody was blessed the same. The former Kentucky Wildcat already sounded like an enlightened pro-baller when he revealed that at this moment of his career, he now realizes the significance of every detail that Kobe Bryant tried to impart to him.

"Looking back on it, he dropped so many jewels on me that I didn't even hear because I was not there mentally. I remember one time we were in Houston and I went to his room with his security guard. Kobe comes in and says, 'You know, when you go on these road trips, you want to have fun, you want to turn up, you want to do all that in these cities.' But he said, 'I gained an edge by taking meetings on these road trips, business meetings. What can I do to establish my brand, figure out what I like to do, advance my life after basketball? ” Russell said in an interview with Anthony Slater of the Athletic.

"But looking back on it, I'm like, man, he was really teaching me what's really relevant now and a lot of kids don't get it until they're 8-10 years in and realize what they want to do," he told Slater. "Then they attack it, but they're on their way out and their (ability to make money) isn't the same,” D’Angelo Russell added.