ESPN recently premiered Spike Lee’s new film Kobe: Doin Work, which was a day in the life of Kobe Bryant. If you don’t know the name, Kobe is the guard for the L.A. Lakers, currently the best team in the NBA.
One of my favorite lines in the film was what Kobe’s high school coach told him years ago and he’s still tapping into the knowledge:
“You don’t build a house without blueprints. You gotta know what you’re doing coming in”
The Lakers win championships because they know what they’re up against. They study their opponents obsessively. They know what they’re gonna do before the game starts because they know what their opponents are (most likely) going to do, and they play accordingly.
You could argue that The Lakers are pros, that they’re just plain better than most people when they pick up the round ball, but Kobe puts that myth to bed. He makes a telling and simple statement in the voice over as he’s watching himself in a scene showing a particularly tight drive to the basket:
“A lot of this comes from film study because you know (from study) where the guy is gonna be .”
This is a basketball lesson from the best, but it’s also a business lesson and a life lesson, even if you’ve never knocked down a 3 pointer: Study. Be a little obsessive. Know how your opponent is going to react. Have a plan. Know your goal is before you start to build.
Who’s studying your moves? Whose moves are you studying? Sometimes this attention to detail is the strategic edge you need to win.
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