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Kobe's back in Manila, explains his 'Mamba mentality'

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/sports/6/25/kobe-1.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Kobe Bryant at the Fort for his &quot;Mamba Mentality Tour.&quot;</div></figcaption></figure></div><p>Retired basketball legend Kobe Bryant is glad to have returned to Manila to meet his local fans.</p><p>Bryant, regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, arrived in Manila early Saturday morning for his &quot;Mamba Mentality Tour&quot; with sports apparel Nike.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s always fun to come here, there&#x27;s so much energy that surrounds the game and so much passion for the game,&quot; said the former LA Laker during his press conference at the Shangri-La at the Fort. &quot;I enjoy it every time I come here.&quot;</p><p>It was his first visit to Manila since retiring from the NBA after 20 colorful years with the Lakers.</p><p>But despite leaving the sport, Bryant remained fit and kept himself busy even while being away from the game.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s still important for me to stay in shape so I&#x27;m still working out, still training, doing all sort of things,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;And then I also continue to create, innovate our performance products with Nike so I&#x27;ve been extremely busy.&quot;</p><p>Byrant is known for his nickname &quot;Black Mamba&quot; which meant his desire to emulate in the hard court the eponymous snake&#x27;s ability &quot;strike with 99% accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession.&quot;</p><p>In the process, he became a five-time NBA champion, a two-time Finals MVP and also won the 2008 Season Most Valuable Player award.</p><p>&quot;The sum of the &#x27;Mamba mentality&#x27; to me is to be on the constant quest to try to be the best version of yourself,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;That&#x27;s what the mentality is.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/sports/6/25/kobe-2.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Kobe Bryant at the Fort for his &quot;Mamba Mentality Tour.&quot;</div></figcaption></figure></div><p>Bryant capped his storied NBA career with a 60-point output against the Utah Jazz, even outscoring the whole Jazz squad in the fourth quarter.</p><p>Bryant said he himself couldn&#x27;t believe he&#x27;s done it.</p><p>&quot;No there&#x27;s no way this is happening,&quot; he said. &quot;People could go in there and say &#x27;Nah, it&#x27;s not happening. That&#x27;s fantasy land.&#x27; It&#x27;s surreal, I can&#x27;t believe it happened that way.&quot;</p><p>But the 37-year-old baller, however, said he has no plans of returning to the game anytime soon, citing that he&#x27;s already at peace with his retirement.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/sports/6/25/kobe-3.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Kobe Bryant at the Fort for his &quot;Mamba Mentality Tour.&quot;</div></figcaption></figure></div><p>&quot;I really have no inclination to play anymore.... I&#x27;m really, really fortunate cause it&#x27;s really hard for players at this age to leave the game and have peace with it,&quot; said Bryant.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m glad I do. Very blessed to have that feeling.&quot; -- <strong>with a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News</strong></p><p>(For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website.</a>)</p>

Retired basketball legend Kobe Bryant is glad to have returned to Manila to meet his local fans.