Kobe on mentoring Green: 'Draymond is a rare breed'

Newly retired Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was in a league of his own when it came to his competitive nature and ruthless aggression on the hardwood. Winning games was all that mattered to him, and if he needed to be harder on his teammates to get those positive results, then so be it.

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green possesses similar qualities, which is why "The Black Mamba" has singled him out, and acts as somewhat of a leadership mentor to the 26-year-old.

"Draymond is a rare breed in this day and age,” Bryant told the San Francisco Chronicle's Scott Osler. "He’s a competitor, and he’s not afraid to show he’s a competitor. He’s not afraid to address certain issues with teammates and with (opponents) that may seem uncomfortable. He’s a challenger."

"He has great intuition. He’s studied the game a lot. He’s a historian of the game, he asks a lot of questions about old stories and players, and what they would do here, what they would do there. I think he cares about a certain depth of the game, whereas the majority of young players just stay on the surface."

Bryant reached out to Green during the early part of the 2015-16 season, with the two even getting to play alongside one another as members of the Western Conference All-Star team. Since that time, the five-time champion has called Green to bestow some of his wisdom upon him.

"After playing all these years, I feel it’s important to share whatever knowledge I have with him, and with other young players as well," Bryant said.

In terms of what the two discuss, Bryant moves away from the x's and o's of the game and focuses his attention on what it takes to be a good leader, as well as how to ignore the critics and naysayers.

"How to listen and understand who your teammates are," Bryant said. "What they may be going through, and how to drive those things out of people. And also perspective of what people (outside the team) might say about you, in terms of having a bad reputation, or you’re a dirty player."

"You can’t let that stuff bother you. You have one job to do, and that’s to bring out the best. What the outside world says is really irrelevant. You can be a nice guy (to the outside world), but if you lose a championship, you’re a loser ... That’s what I tried to explain to Draymond: don’t worry about the outside world, that’s not important. The important ones are your teammates. How can you guys get the best out of each other."

Bryant developed a reputation for being a jerk, whether it was warranted or not. However, he feels that you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and anything he did with his Lakers teammates that was deemed harsh or severe was for the greater good.

"It’s your job as a leader to bring out the best in people,” Bryant said. "If bringing the best out of people is being a jerk, then I think that as a society we need to reconsider what our perspective of being a jerk is.”