Bryce Harper Wants to Emulate Kobe Bryant’s Mentality of Playing Through Pain

Like every other sport, baseball is a favourite for a number of people and has a worldwide fan following. There are several players playing this sport, especially in Major League Baseball, who is well aware of responsibilities that one has to take up and keep entertaining the fans while playing through adverse conditions such as pain and injuries. One such player is Phillies’ player Bryce Harper, who is one of the highest-paid players among his contemporaries in the MLB.

In a recent interview, Harper said that the players should ignore their injuries and play through them while ensuring entertainment for the fans and showing commitment to their profession. He resonated with the words spoken by the great NBA player Kobe Bryant, who, along with his daughter Gigi, lost their lives in a tragic helicopter crash in 2019.

A few days ago, the wife of Kobe, Vanessa Bryant, spoke about the fact that her husband had played through a number of injuries throughout his career. While giving her late husband’s induction speech into the Basketball Hall of Fame, she said Kobe Bryant remembered the thrill of sitting in the arena with his father to watch Michael Jordan play. He didn’t want to let his broken finger or a sore ankle rob a fan of experiencing that same feeling.

While agreeing to these words, Harper also spoke about the same kind of mentality that a sportsperson should have. He said, “Kobe was on a different level. Everyone wanted to see Kobe. Everyone wanted to watch Kobe. But when fans show up every single night, they want to see the superstar player in the lineup. They spent the money in the ballpark. They spent the money to get here. This might be the only game they get to see all year. They take their kids and this might be the only game they get to all year along. I try to be in the lineup every single day no matter what I’m feeling or anything like that.”

Harper is known to be a huge fan of Kobe Bryant and he even wore his Lakers jersey under his uniform while playing for the Phillies last summer. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t been on the injured list since 2017 and has played 89% of the team’s games in three seasons with the Phillies. Kobe Bryant’s mentality is impossible to duplicate, but Harper can at least understand where he was coming from.

Bryce Harper returned to the lineup this season four days after being hit in the face by a 97 mph fastball. He finished last season with a back injury so bad that he could not throw a baseball and has played this month through a sore wrist and sore shoulder. It is evident from this action that the player has a strong mentality that reminds us of the great Kobe Bryant and is a personification of a gritty and powerful character that every sportsperson should emulate to evolve above the ordinary in their career.