Jose Mourinho's poignant Kobe Bryant comments at first Tottenham press conference

Posted Tuesday, January 28, 2020 by Dailystar.co.uk

Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho's Kobe Bryant comments at his first Spurs press conference have resurfaced after the NBA legend died in a helicopter crash.

Bryant was killed along with eight others, including his daughter Gianna, when a helicopter he was travelling in crashed in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Tributes have been pouring around the world with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Donald Trump and Shaquille O'Neal all mourning Bryant's death.

Tottenham boss Mourinho is also likely to be grieving having looked up to the former NBA star.

Indeed, the Portuguese boss commented on Bryant and his successful career during his very first Tottenham press conference back in November.

"And if you have to speak about some examples of professionalism and serial winners, Kobe is a great example in his sport and in the world of sport.

"He says: 'People say that I'm difficult but I'm only difficult for the ones that don't share my principles.' So all the colleagues that share his principles they just love him.

"The ones that don't like him are the ones that don't share the principles. With me it's basically the same.

"For me, everything is about the team, it's not about selfish people. For me, everything is about the group and professionalism and commitment and respect for the club, respect for the mates, respect for the fans.

"I cannot run away from this so if there is somebody that doesn't share these principles with me, then we have a problem and we will always have a problem because this is the way I think football has to be.

"The players are only big when they make the others better. You cannot be a big player if you just think about yourself.

"That's another principle. To be a big player, you have to make others big. If I have players that think they are big and they just care about themselves, and forget to help others to be big, we are always going to have a problem."