Kobe Bryant leveraged the Black Mamba alter ego to buffer his play on the court from the chaos of his real life. Other athletes have also used this tool to maximize their performance and disassociate from their fears. In this deep dive, I pull out my favorite highlights from "The Alter Ego Effect", a book by Todd Herman. This is no substitute for the book, but a simple distillation of some of what I thought were the most important parts and how they relate to the athletes we studied.

In the episode we learn why people create alter egos, which athletes have used them successfully, and how you can create one to dominate your field of play.

Book: https://amzn.to/3OOFUYZ

Exponential Athlete Socials

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast⁠ 

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/⁠ 

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exponential-athlete-podcast⁠ 

0:00 Intro

2:05 Who Uses Alter Egos?

4:50 You Already Have Alter Egos

6:25 Why Have an Alter Ego

7:30 The Batman Effect

9:55 Creating an Alter Ego

16:55 Kobe & The Mamba

Early in Kobe’s career, he was asked what he would ask Michael Jordan about basketball. He answered “I’d ask him how to incorporate math into the game”. 

I couldn’t think of anyone better to ask about what that question means than today’s guest, Cory Jez. Cory has worked in sports analytics in basketball as the director of analytics for the Utah Jazz, in soccer as the Director of Sports Science and Analytics at FC Austin, and now in golf at TourIQ a company he founded where he is providing analytics insights for Professional golfers on the PGA Tour.  

In this episode we dive into how analytics are used to help teams and individuals win, what the biggest misconceptions about analytics are, and how anyone like us, can benefit from applying analytics to our own domain.

Exponential Athlete Socials

Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast⁠ 

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/⁠ 

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exponential-athlete-podcast⁠ 

12:10 Maturity of Analytics in Different Sports

18:00 Clash Between Players and Leadership

25:45 Misconceptions about Analytics

35:00 Strategy vs Execution

43:30 On Training and Data

The approach to winning is different for everyone. For Kobe, it was taking control of the game and making his impact known. For today’s guest, it was about selfless, often overlooked contributions that made everyone around him better. While his individual stat lines didn’t always turn heads, something special happened with every team that he was on. They started winning more and more. This eventually culminated in 10 playoff appearances and 2 NBA Championships over a 13 season NBA career.

At every level, Shane Battier was able to make his teams better. He was a 3 time state champion in Highschool, won an NCAA Championship and National College player of the year honors while at Duke, and eventually made 3 finals appearances coming away with 2 championships with the Miami Heat. In this interview, we learn how Shane’s unique basketball philosophy was shaped, what separated the great teams he was on from the mediocre, and what he learned from playing with and against all time greats like LeBron and Kobe.

Shane's Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/ShaneBattier⁠

Battier Take Charge Foundation: ⁠https://www.battiertakecharge.org/⁠

0:00 Intro

1:12 Love of Basketball

3:05 Internal Challenge

4:20 Role of Practice?

7:30 Basketball Focus

9:40 On Team Sports

14:10 Who Came Before Shane?

21:30 Living in Shadows

24:00 Coach K Motivators

26:45 Career Evolution

29:50 Individual vs Team Wins

32:00 The Details

33:30 Zone States

39:40 Let the Plan Fail You

40:00 What is Greatness?

42:55 What Got Shane Closest?

46:25 Curiosity

50:30 Biggest Insight from Outside of Basketball

54:00 Competitive Advantage

57:00 On Goals

59:00 Why GOATs are Different

1:01:00 Unwilling to Sacrifice

1:04:00 After Basketball

1:05:00 Trust and Mission Focus

1:11:30 The Battier Effect

1:14:00 After Basketball

Support the Pod on Patreon: https://patreon.com/ExponentialAthlete

Our Twitter ⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast⁠

YouTube ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@ExponentialAthlete⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/

This is part 3 of of the 3 part series studying the keys to Kobe Bryant's success on the basketball court. In this episode we dive into the unfair advantages Kobe had while growing up. What uncontrollable forces shaped who he became as an athlete? We also explore what the downside to his success was.

Exponential Athlete Socials

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast⁠⁠ 

Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/⁠⁠ 

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exponential-athlete-podcast⁠⁠ 

The episode is broken down into the following sections:

1:20 Genetics

5:10 Joe Bryant

14:35 Room to Grow

22:00 Pam Bryant

25:00 Italia

30:30 Luck and Timing

32:30 The Cautionary Tale

33:30 A Man Misunderstood

38:00 Overshadowing Teammates

42:50 Distance from Family and Friends

45:20 Championships

47:55 Physical Deterioration

54:18 Thank you!

Resources - Books

Resources - YouTube

Resources - Movies

Resources - Podcasts

Resources - Research

This is part 2 of of the 3 part series studying the keys to Kobe Bryant's success on the basketball court. In this episode we break down the mental tools that he uses to cultivate one of the strongest minds in sports. We go in depth into how he views himself on his journey towards greatness.

Exponential Athlete Socials

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast⁠⁠ 

Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/⁠⁠ 

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exponential-athlete-podcast⁠⁠ 

The episode is broken down into the following sections:

0:00 Intro

2:45 Mr Adaptable

13:53 The Strategist

27:40 Confidence Vs Arrogance

35:47 The Challenger

56:40 Kobe the Hero

1:08:12 Mamba Mentality

1:19:10 The Leader

1:21:00 Part 2 Summary

Resources - Books

Resources - YouTube

Resources - Movies

Resources - Podcasts

Resources - Research

This is part 1 of of the 3 part series studying the keys to Kobe Bryant's success on the basketball court. In this episode we dive deep into his philosophy and approach to learning. The ability to learn is a fundamental building block for success. The faster that we learn, the faster we can get compounding returns from our efforts.

Exponential Athlete Socials

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast⁠⁠ 

Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/⁠⁠ 

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exponential-athlete-podcast⁠⁠ 

The episode is broken down into the following sections:

0:00 Intro

1:40 Overview of Episodes

2:40 Why Kobe?

5:05 The Importance of Learning for Success

7:00 Curiosity Fed the Mamba

14:15 More than Basketball But Still Basketball

24:25 Reps & Experimentation

39:35 Goals and Understanding Weaknesses

45:40 Imitation is Flattery

52:30 Fearless Inquisitor

1:01:25 Finding the Hole

1:12:15 Love of the Game

1:14:15 Recap

Resources - Books

Resources - YouTube

Resources - Movies

Resources - Podcasts

Resources - Research

Exponential Athlete Socials

Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast⁠⁠ 

Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/⁠⁠ 

LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exponential-athlete-podcast⁠⁠