Lakers News: Yankees Star Aaron Judge Strives To Emulate Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Mentality

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant will continue to be loved and revered throughout the world after his tragic passing. One way his legacy will forever live on is through the ‘Mamba Mentality,’ a mindset that can be applied by anyone in any walk of life, and that is something that New York Yankees All-Star outfielder Aaron Judge continues to utilize.

Judge is a California native, growing up about an hour outside of Sacramento in Linden, California. But despite being near the home of one of Kobe’s biggest rivals, Judge grew up admiring the Lakers’ superstar.

That reverence continues now as Judge is one of the biggest stars in all of baseball. Judge was named to his fourth All-Star team with this year’s game taking place where Kobe was most beloved, in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. During workout day, Judge spoke about adopting Kobe’s Mamba Mentality and how it helps him, via Randy Miller of NJ.com:

“The Mamba mentality is something that I strive to do every single night,” Judge said during Monday’s All-Star Workout day. “It helps me lock in when I play the game. I tap into that others side of things. I can shift between Aaron and No. 99. You kind of make that shift.”

The great thing about the Mamba Mentality is that it is truly something that anyone can embrace. It simply involves putting everything you have and giving complete focus and commitment to whatever it is that you are looking to accomplish. And it is certainly paying dividends for Judge this season.

Judge wasn’t done paying homage to Kobe Bryant either as he would also sport the legendary Lakers’ sneakers during batting practice, via Bleacher Report:

Judge currently leads all of baseball with 33 home runs at the All-Star break. Additionally, he also leads MLB in runs scored with 74 and total bases with 209 while helping lead the Yankees to the best record in baseball.

To play any sport at the highest level requires a level of commitment and willingness to be the best that most simply can’t quite get to. For Judge, channeling his inner Kobe Bryant and locking into the Mamba Mentality has helped him become one of the biggest stars in the sport.

Kobe Bryant truly had a profound effect on many people before his passing. Thankfully he and Shaquille O’Neal were able to mend their issues and this led to Kobe being able to forge a relationship with Shaq’s son Shareef, who recently played on the Lakers’ Summer League team.

O’Neal would reveal that Kobe was always extremely supportive of him from a young age and would routinely check in on him following his heart surgery that severely hampered his college career.

While Kobe was one of the most fierce competitors the NBA has ever known, he was just as committed to being there for those he cared about as well.

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