Photographer Andrew Bernstein knew Kobe Bryant since the late Laker legend’s rookie season in 1996. Over the years, the two became friends, and eventually collaborators on a book. Photo Courtesy of Andrew Bernstein[/caption]
Andrew Bernstein was in his South Pasadena photo studio this past Sunday morning, sticking to his usual weekend routine, when the awful news broke.
“I usually spend a couple of hours in there just kind of catching up for the week coming up,’’ said the 61-year-old San Marino resident, who is the official team photographer for the NBA’s Lakers and Clippers. “I turn on a lot of loud Springsteen music, and I don’t really pay attention to my phone.
“And then my phone started buzzing like crazy a little after 10 o’clock, and I didn’t know what was going on. People were texting, ‘Is it true about Kobe? Is it true about Kobe?’ And I had no idea what that meant.’’
But soon, like the rest of world, Bernstein would find out. Yes, it was true.
Kobe Bryant, 41 years old — a Laker legend, a worldwide icon, a father of four — was one of nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna, nicknamed Gigi, was also among those who died in the fiery wreck.
The news that shook the world hit especially close to Bernstein, who is now in his 38th year of shooting NBA games.
Bernstein knew Kobe Bryant from the very beginning. He was there in 1996, when an 18-year-old Bryant first joined the Lakers, a skinny rookie straight out of high school. Bernstein was there on April 13, 2016, when Bryant dropped 60 points against the Utah Jazz at Staples Center in a Hollywood ending to an all-time career.
And Bernstein was there for just about every magical moment in between — snapping what he estimates were between 300,000 and 400,000 photos of the man known as “The Black Mamba.” Over the years, the two became friends, even collaborating on a book, “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” in 2018.
“I was in complete shock and disbelief,’’ Bernstein said on Tuesday, recalling how Sunday played out. “I finally got the TV on, and I was watching I believe CNN or something, and they showed the sheriffs at the (crash) site, and it started to really hit me – I just couldn’t believe it. I was numb, absolutely numb.’’
Bernstein said he had to leave his studio to pick up his daughter in Glendale – “and as we were driving back home, we heard the horrible report that his daughter was with him. I just had to pull over. I just started sobbing.’’
‘Very, Very Close’
Over 24 years and those hundreds of thousands of photos, Bernstein recalled that he and Bryant developed a special bond – one that gave the photographer particular insight into Bryant’s brilliance and fire.
“We were very, very close as colleagues … and I think we were friends, too, because we shared some very private things about each other, spent a lot of private time together,’’ Bernstein said.
What stood out for Bernstein was Bryant’s “relentless pursuit of being great, an obsessiveness, an infinite curiosity with everything that would bring you to the next level.’’
“He had a very famous quote that said, ‘If you’re not obsessed with what you do, we don’t speak the same language,’ ’’ Bernstein recalled.
Bryant carried that fire into all his endeavors, even off the court – including his book collaboration with Bernstein.
“I brought the idea to him and his marketing team about a couple of months before he was going to retire,’’ Bernstein said. “I said, ‘Look, we should really think about doing a coffee-table book of sort of my greatest hits, my favorite photos of him, and have Kobe write the captions, and maybe some chapter headings and stuff.
“I prepared a prototype of what I thought I wanted it to look like and all that stuff, brought it down to his office, and we all sat around a coffee table.’’
And then Bryant became all-business, just like on the basketball court.
“He went through the prototype,’’ Bernstein said, “and very politely looked at every picture and then closed the cover, and said to me, ‘Well, the good news is we’re gonna collaborate on a book. The bad news is, for you, it’s not gonna be this one.’ ’’
Bernstein laughed at the memory.
“He knew exactly what he wanted to do,’’ he said. “He wanted to do a book that finally let people into what made The Black Mamba tick. He was very enigmatic and very mysterious. No one really understood what the meaning behind The Black Mamba was. I mean, we all knew it was a vicious snake, venomous, deadly and all that. But what was the true meaning behind it?
“And as that started to get peeled away, I understood that it involved how he approached the process of greatness.’’
Focus was at the center of that Mamba mentality, Bernstein recalled.
“On planes, with guys that were sleeping, he was breaking down game films,’’ said Bernstein – who called his friendship with Bryant, “a dream come true.’’
“Think about one player, playing for one team in one city, photographed by one guy – it was too good to be true, really, when you think about it,’’ he said.
