Kobe Bryant Pens Letter To His Younger Self Offering Financial Advice
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — For the first time in two decades, Kobe Bryant isn't training for the upcoming NBA season. Instead, he's sharing some wisdom.
In a letter addressed to his 17-year-old self, published by the Players Tribune, Bryant told his younger self to exercise restraint in showering loved ones with money and gifts.
The letter was addressed to himself just as he was making the leap to the NBA from high school, awaiting a massive financial windfall. Kobe's first Lakers contract paid $3.5 million over three years, and Kobe retired with a record $680 million in earnings, according to Forbes.
"Purely giving material things to your siblings and friends may appear to be the right decision. You love them, and they were always there for you growing up, so it's only right that they should share in your success and all that comes with it. So you buy them a car, a big house, pay all of their bills. You want them to live a beautiful, comfortable life, right? But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back," he wrote. "Invest in their future, don't just give."
Bryant said the impulse to give is ultimately self-serving. He said a better approach is to encourage his loved ones to strive for "independence and growth."
"You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, it made YOU happy to see them smiling and without a care in the world — and that was extremely selfish of you," he wrote. "While you were feeling satisfied with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. You were adding material things to their lives, but subtracting the most precious gifts of all: independence and growth."
Bryant also touched on the strain money can put on relationships with parents.
"Before you sign that first contract, figure out the right budget for your parents — one that will allow them to live beautifully while also growing your business and setting people up for long-term success. That way, your children's kids and their kids will be able to invest in their own futures when the time comes," he wrote.
Bryant ended the post with a hint that a future post will focus on his relationship with his father, former NBA player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant.
"The next time I write to you, I may touch on the challenges of mixing blood with business," he wrote. "The most important advice I can give to you is to make sure your parents remain PARENTS and not managers."
Bryant has said that he hopes to use his free time during retirement to focus on storytelling.
"I'm a storyteller. I love, love, love storytelling," he told reporters last year.
