Kobe Bryant hated losing. In fact, it took him nearly 200 pages into his 2018 book Mamba Mentality to even bring up the subject. Right below a photo of him slumped on the Lakers bench, the words blazed in all caps: “THE AGONY OF DEFEAT IS AS LOW AS THE JOY OF WINNING IS HIGH.” For someone who lived and breathed the game, defeat wasn’t just a stat—it was a scar.

Likewise, that mentality didn’t go unnoticed. Back in 2018, Knicks’ coach Jeff Hornacek broke it down for his squad. According to ESPN, he posed a simple question: “Do you love to win or hate to lose?” Then he dropped the hammer: “The mentality of a Kobe Bryant, a Michael Jordan, a LeBron James, I think they hate to lose more than they love to win,” he said. And that hate? It’s what separates good from great. “When you hate to lose and you lose a game, it eats at you.”

And that very obsession ended up bailing out none other than Denzel Washington. On the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, comedian JB Smoove shared a wild courtside moment. “When I signed with this one agency, they gave me tickets to a Laker game, and I was right, when I tell you, I was on the bench next to Kobe,” he said. The Lakers were getting torched by Carmelo Anthony’s squad, and Smoove was front and center in the blowout.

Moreover, Smoove wasn’t even a Lakers fan—he just went for the free seat. But then he spotted Denzel across the arena. “I remember Denzel was sitting across, in the corner,” he said. And as Melo’s team ran the floor, Smoove was eyeing Denzel like a hawk. “You know better, D. You know better, D… Easy on Denzel, easy on Denzel,” he joked, teasing the Oscar-winner’s NYC roots.

However, before he could shout him out, something happened. The assistant coach recognized JP. “The assistant coach said, hey, JP, what’s up, man? Good seeing you, man. Da, da, da, da, da. Hey Kobe, you know this guy? You know this guy? No, Kobe never looked at me.” That stone-cold focus? It totally threw Smoove off. And just like that, Denzel dodged the roast.

Funny how Kobe’s fire even protected fans in the stands. But while Kobe hates to lose, do you know he felt losing is “exciting?”

Kobe Bryant breaks down why losing is exciting to him

Kobe Bryant built his legacy on winning five NBA championships, two Finals MVPs, and a reputation that struck fear across the league. But what’s most people didn’t always get? Losing wasn’t a red flag for him. It was fuel. Something that pushed him to find another level.

Because, surprisingly, he didn’t shy away from it. “It’s exciting,” Kobe told Lewis Howes when asked about the sting of losing. “Because it means you have different ways to get better… So, it’s exciting. I mean, it sucks to lose, but there are answers there if you just look at them.” That’s the thing. While most players look away after a tough game, Kobe dove headfirst into the tape.

Of course, he never downplayed the value of winning. The 2008 MVP made it clear that nothing beats standing on top. But even then, he saw losing as part of the full picture. Especially when the challenge is finding those same “answers” at your peak—or after a brutal fall.

And as he put it, the process never really stops. “Whether you win or you lose, you go back, and you look, and you find things… how they work, why they work, and how you can make them work again.” For Kobe, losing wasn’t a flaw—it was a mirror. And not everyone’s brave enough to look into it.