Kobe Bryant was one of the greatest players (probably top 1-3 of all time) who have ever played in the NBA. He was also one of the most inspiring basketball players to have walked this planet. Bryant tragically died in a helicopter crash when he was only 41 years old. To honor his short life, here are the top 30 Kobe Bryant quotes of all time. Kobe was an inspiration to me and so many other players growing up. He will definitely be missed, but his legacy will always live on.

1. “The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they want to do.”

2. “I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.”

3. “Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.”

4. “If you’re afraid to fail, then you’re probably going to fail.”

5. “I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.”

6. Can I jump over two or three guys like I used to? No. Am I as fast as I used to be? No, but I still have the fundamentals and smarts. That’s what enables me to still be a dominant player. As a kid growing up, I never skipped steps. I always worked on fundamentals because I know athleticism is fleeting.

7. “I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.”

8. “Once you know what failure feels like, determination chases success.”

9. “If you do not believe in yourself no one will do it for you.”

10. “I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have a fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I’m like, ‘My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don’t have it. I just want to chill.’ We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it.”

11. “My brain… it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I sit there and have to face myself and tell myself, ‘You’re a failure’… I think that’s almost worse than death”

12. ” The most important thing is you must put everybody on notice that you’re here and you are for real. I’m not a player that is just going to come and go. I’m not a player that is going to make an All-Star team one time, two times. I’m here to be an all-time great. Once I made that commitment and said, ‘I want to be one of the greatest ever’, then the game became everything for me.”

13. “As I sit here now when I take off my shoe and I look down at my scar, I see the beauty in it. I see all the hard work, all the sacrifices. I see the journey that it took to get back to this point of being healthy. And I see beauty in that struggle. That’s what makes it beautiful.”

14. “People just don’t understand how obsessed I am with winning.”

15. “Despite the fear, finish the job.”

16. “There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something, there’s a choice you have to make. We all can be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that. Family time, hanging out with friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with making that decision.”

17. “The moment you give up is the moment you let someone else win.”

18. “Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they’ve taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences.”

19. “The important thing is that your teammates have to know you’re pulling for them and you really want them to be successful.”

20. “Winning takes precedence over all. There’s no gray area. No almosts.”

21. “Christmas morning, I’m going to open presents with my kids. I’m going to take pictures of them opening the presents. Then I’m going to come to the Staples Center and get ready to work.”

22. “Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.“

23. “I focus on one thing and one thing only – that’s trying to win as many championships as I can.”

24.”I’m reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.”

25. “It’s the one thing you can control. You are responsible for how people remember you or don’t. So don’t take it lightly.“

26. “Magic has five championships. I have five championships. I’m pretty sure we both know what we’re doing.”

27. “We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it.“

28. “I create my own path. It was straight and narrow. I looked at it this way: you were either in my way, or out of it.“

29. “Use your success, wealth and influence to put them in the best position to realize their own dreams and find their true purpose.“

30. “The beauty of being blessed with talent is rising above doubters to create a beautiful moment.“