Quick answer: In a Jay Shetty Podcast interview published in September 2020, and used in a Viral Podcast Shorts clip, Kobe Bryant agrees with Shetty's recollection that his father told him "whether you scored zero or 60" — "like I love you." Asked what that meant, Bryant says, "Well it did more than that right." "The basketball stuff speaks for itself in terms of what that comment made you know did for me in terms of giving me stability and giving me confidence to say okay it's okay to fail because you're going to be loved no matter what." "And that that doesn't just mean basketball that means anything in life that means writing that means being an entrepreneur that means um having the confidence to go for it." He adds that he has "seen too many parents do the exact opposite," and that children can "become paralyzed by their own fear because they don't have that security blanket of love and comfort."
Clip: Viral Podcast Shorts YouTube Short from the full source linked below.
This is an archival conversation. Bryant, whose RealNameOf biography identifies his birth name as Kobe Bean Bryant, died on January 26, 2020, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. He was 41. NBA.com, publishing an Associated Press report, also reported that his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was killed, and that others on board died as well. The YouTube episode, titled KOBE BRYANT'S LAST GREAT INTERVIEW On How To FIND PURPOSE In LIFE | Kobe Bryant & Jay Shetty, was uploaded September 19, 2020, after his death. This article does not treat that title as a claim that the conversation was his last interview, and it does not take up the later "purpose in life" material outside the used clip. His father's name is not spoken in the segment.
"Whether you scored zero or 60"
Shetty tells Bryant the line has come up before. "For you it was really powerful because you've talked about this before where your father said to you like whether you scored zero or 60" — Bryant answers "yeah" — "like I love you." Bryant answers "yeah" again. Shetty then asks what the statement meant "at that time," and how it motivated him "to continue scoring 60 rather than go oh I'm all right it's zero."
The wording of the quote is Shetty's recollection of what Bryant has said his father told him. Bryant agrees with it in this exchange, then explains what he took from it. This article does not present a separately recorded quote from his father.
"It's okay to fail"
Bryant says the comment did more than help his scoring. "Well it did more than that right. So like the basketball stuff speaks for itself in terms of what that comment made you know did for me in terms of giving me stability and giving me confidence to say okay it's okay to fail because you're going to be loved no matter what."
He then takes it off the court. "And that that doesn't just mean basketball that means anything in life that means writing that means being an entrepreneur that means um having the confidence to go for it."
A "security blanket of love and comfort"
He ends the thought with other parents, as he has seen them. "And um I've seen too many parents do the exact opposite and it terrifies children and children become paralyzed by their own fear because they don't have that security blanket of love and comfort." The clip ends there. He does not, in this segment, name his father, and he does not describe a particular game in which he scored zero or 60. The "zero or 60" line stays in the form Shetty uses and Bryant accepts, not as a separately sourced quote from his dad.
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FAQ
What does Kobe Bryant say his father told him?
In this interview, Jay Shetty recalls Bryant's father telling him that "whether you scored zero or 60," "I love you." Bryant agrees, then talks about what "that comment" meant to him.
What does he say that comment gave him?
"Stability" and "confidence to say okay it's okay to fail because you're going to be loved no matter what." He says that was not only about basketball, but about "anything in life," including writing, being an entrepreneur, and "having the confidence to go for it."
When was this interview published, and why is it described as archival?
The YouTube episode was uploaded September 19, 2020. Bryant died on January 26, 2020, in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, at age 41, as reported by NBA.com and the Associated Press. The conversation is presented here as an archival 2020 interview, published after his death.
What is Kobe Bryant's birth name?
RealNameOf's biography identifies his birth name as Kobe Bean Bryant. That name is not spoken in this clip.