Kobe Bryant

Kobe (on winning the NBA's Most Valuable Player award): I didn't expect this award would come to me. I'm surprised. I've played pretty well in other seasons. Our team hasn't been as good. Things just fell into place.

Kobe (on winning the NBA's Most Valuable Player award): This is an award I couldn't have won on my own. I can't thank these guys (his teammates) enough. These are my guys, these are my brothers.

Kobe (On his reaction to hearing Bulls' fans chant his name): A couple of my friends played against the Bulls when that took place, called me after they played them and said they heard something that was just the craziest thing they had ever seen. I was shocked by it.

Kobe (On his team's performance after defeating the Bulls on 12/18/07): Everybody's contributing and playing well, it makes the game fun.

Kobe (During a Slam magazine interview by Lang Whitaker on the USA Basketball Team): Playing for the team I play on, I don't really get spot-up jumpers; I'm working off the move. With USA Basketball, one thing that has always been a challenge for us is shooting, because teams give us outside shots and all of us are not accustomed to being so damn wide open. So I made it a point to get in the gym and shoot spot up shots and catch-and-shoot shots.

Kobe (After a 107-94 lost to the Boston Celtics on 11/23/07): Since I've been in the league, they've [stunk], now they're kicking our butts. Hopefully, we will get to the point where there's some parity between us and them. It means we're competing on a championship level.

Kobe (After scoring only 20 points against the Detroit Pistons): I can force the issue and go off for 40 or 50, but that's not beneficial to the team. You've just got to stick to the flow of the game, I had some easy shots, they just didn't fall for me.

Kobe (Thoughts on Chauncey Billups, who sat out for the Lakers/Pistons game on 11/16/07): Billups is a big body and he's the floor general. He's really a coach on the floor, and he gives then a great post-up threat, particularly against the small lineup we have, so when we face them again and he's in there, it'll pose a different challenge.

Kobe (after the Lakers beat Detroit 103-91 on 11/16/07): When you're not shooting the ball well, you have to lead by example and make the rest of the guys understand that even though you don't shoot the ball well, it doesn't mean you relax on defense. If anything, you pick it up.

Kobe (on recent Laker trade rumors): To kind of have this go on now, it's a bit of a distraction, We just wanted to keep things quiet, go about our business. It kind of caught me off guard a little bit. We've just got to get back to basics and just get ready and go from there.

Kobe (on the recent comments by Laker owner Jerry Buss): It's my job to play basketball. It's not my job to worry about what management is doing and this, that and the other, I'm just going to get ready and let them do their job.

Kobe (on wanting to be traded from the Lakers): I would like to be traded, yeah. Tough as it is to come to that conclusion, there's no other alternative. It's rough, man, but I don't see how you can rebuild that trust. I just don't know how you can move forward in that type of situation.

Kobe (on his 9 straight games of 40+ points): It's a rhythm. I can't describe it. It's just an unbelievable rhythm. And it comes from hours of practice. All of a sudden you just see a hole in the defense. You can just get to it. If somebody tries to cut you off, if it's a move that you've been thinking about and been working on for years. All of a sudden you just do it. It's just a rhythm. And YOU dictate the rhythm. Defense doesn't dictate it. Those five guys can't dictate the rhythm that I was gonna play on that particular night, because I felt like I was controlling the whole game. You're not gonna rush me. I'm gonna take my time, and I'm gonna cut you up.

Kobe (after winning the 2000-2001 Championship): I was prepared to do whatever. I was going to run and push myself to exhaustion, it didn't matter. Every rebound, every loose ball. And I think my teammates understood that. To us, this was like a life-or-death situation. We just weren't going to lose.

Kobe (on the #24): It's the length of one day, one half, one shot clock. This number is my promise to dominate every moment.

Kobe: You always have to be on edge. You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last.

Kobe (during the 2000-2001 season): All the records would be nice but we're only concerned with playing the team that's on the court with us, not all those teams from history.

Kobe: Now people say I've made it, but I haven't come close to being where I want to be. It intrigues me to see how far I can go.

Kobe: Curiosity drive me.

Kobe (on his rim blocked dunk): Yeah, man that stunk, but sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself. My teammates are still giving me grief about that one.

Kobe (referring to his role after knee surgery): Maybe a few years ago, I might have looked at things different. But it's not about me. It's about us.

Kobe (about his 81 point game): Everybody's been pretty amazed. I got hundreds of calls congratulating me on the game, saying keep it up.

Kobe: Phil and I kind of have an understanding. A lot of things are said without being said. I'm the type of person, I can just move on from something.

Kobe: What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection.

Kobe (about when Phil Jackson was coming back to coach the Lakers): I'm just right down the middle, man, ... It doesn't matter to me. I'd love him as a coach. It doesn't matter to me. If they want him here, he'll be here. If he wants to come, he'll come, he'll coach and we'll go from there.

Kobe: It really doesn't matter to me. We're just talking about clothes. I can understand what the NBA is trying to do. I love my sneakers, but we're just talking about clothes.

Kobe: I've pretty much done all I can here and, you know, God will carry me the rest of the way, so I'm pretty comfortable with that.

Kobe: A lot of times things get blown out of proportion in a negative light, especially in the NBA. But there are a lot of players in the NBA who really care about the community and want to use their basketball-playing ability for a good cause.

Kobe: There's been a lot of talk of me being a "one-man show" but that's simply not the case. We win games when I score 40 points and we've won when I score 10.

Kobe: I had some shots that I felt like I should've made; I just didn't make them. I'm not going to shoot the ball great every night.

Kobe: I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.

Kobe: Sometimes I do wonder what college would have been like. But I made my decision.

Kobe: My parents are my backbone. Still are. They're the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40.

Kobe: I'm playing against great players, playing against the best in the world. The competition - that's what I've always wanted.

Kobe: I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.

Kobe: As far as carrying the torch for the years to come, I don't know. I just want to be the best basketball player I can be.

When told "Raja Bell said that both of his jaws are swollen" Kobe: What? He said that? Look I don't know this kid and I don't want to know this kid. Maybe his Jaw is made of glass or maybe he wasn't hugged enough as a kid.