Bo Bell II

Tracy McGrady says he leaned on Kobe Bryant to manage his $5,000,000 rookie contract and the NBA lifestyle at 18 years old “I never felt like I had it under control. Ever. I was trying to control it the best way I possibly could because I didn’t have the knowledge.” “I’m young. I didn’t have the knowledge. I’m just maneuvering through this shit by trial and error, just trying to figure it out as I go.” “But having Kobe at the time, I could pick up the phone, call Kobe, because he’s somebody that I leaned on religiously at that time. Very intelligent person. Very grounded. His structure and my structure are totally two different structures.” “I needed to have that conversation and learn from him, who had the structure and had the intelligence to help me maneuver through this shit that I know nothing about.” “I could just pick up the phone and call my man and be like, ‘Yo, I’m struggling with this. What should I do?’ And he was so gracious enough to give me the game. That was through our whole career.” “Everything, bro. We talked about everything. I stayed with him. At his house in L.A. Just to have those conversations, man, it really got me through a lot. I’m not even just talking about basketball. I’m talking about having money and having to deal with family and maneuvering through all of that.” “I didn’t know how to deal with that. Kobe grew up in this. He’s got the blueprint. This shit is all a blank canvas for me. And I’m trying to figure it out.” “Even from a mentality standpoint, how you approach games, how you work out. I don’t have any of this. I ain’t really work out until I got to the pros.”