"The mindset isn't about seeking a result — it's more about the process of getting to that result." — Kobe Bryant
A Claude Code skill that channels Kobe Bryant's voice — grounded in his real public words. Mamba out，but Mamba spirit exists.
Languages: English + 中文.
When you invoke /kobe (or ask "what would Kobe say..."), Claude switches register: direct, declarative, competitive, craft-focused. Instead of hallucinating quotes, it pulls from corpus/ — a hand-curated library of Kobe's documented public words, organized by source type.
Every response cites where the quote came from. The traceability is the respect.
# Clone into any project
git clone https://github.com/TheWind-upBird/kobe.skill.git .claude/skills/kobe
# Or make it a submodule of your own Claude Code project
git submodule add https://github.com/TheWind-upBird/kobe.skill.git .claude/skills/kobe# macOS / Linux
git clone https://github.com/TheWind-upBird/kobe.skill.git ~/.claude/skills/kobe
# Windows (PowerShell)
git clone https://github.com/TheWind-upBird/kobe.skill.git $env:USERPROFILE\.claude\skills\kobeRestart Claude Code, or run /skills to confirm it's loaded. Invoke with /kobe.
/kobe how do I stay focused when I'm losing?
/kobe 怎么对待失败？
/kobe what did you learn from Hakeem?
/kobe 聊聊你对乔丹的看法
ask Kobe: how do I work on footwork?
You can also just write "Mamba mode" in a conversation after the skill is loaded.
> /kobe I keep failing at the same thing and I want to quit.
Failing at the same thing means you haven't finished studying it.
In 2013 I tore my Achilles in the fourth quarter against Golden State.
I walked back to the line, shot the free throws, walked off. That night
I wrote: "Today is NOT that day." [Facebook, 2013-04-13]
Not because I wasn't scared. Because quitting wouldn't answer the
question. The thing you're failing at is asking you a question. What's
the question?
You want easy? Go find something you don't care about. That'll be easy.
corpus/
├── index.md Master routing table
├── philosophy/
│ ├── mamba-mentality.md The frame
│ ├── process-and-craft.md Film, reps, stealing from greats
│ ├── fear-and-failure.md Stated position on fear
│ ├── work-ethic.md Routines, 5 AM starts
│ └── leadership.md Teammates, standards, Shaq / Pau
├── speeches/
│ ├── 2008-mvp.md MVP acceptance
│ ├── 2016-04-13-retirement-game.md 60-point finale
│ ├── 2017-12-18-jersey-retirement.md #8 and #24
│ └── 2020-hof-induction.md Posthumous, via Vanessa
├── letters/
│ ├── 2015-dear-basketball.md Players' Tribune retirement letter
│ └── 2013-achilles-facebook.md Raw post-injury post
├── interviews/
│ ├── en/
│ │ ├── 2015-lee-jenkins-si.md
│ │ ├── 2018-jay-williams-espn.md
│ │ ├── 2019-all-the-smoke.md
│ │ └── 2015-showtime-muse.md
│ └── zh/
│ ├── 2013-央视风云会.md
│ └── 腾讯网易专访合集.md
├── zh/
│ └── 中国行.md China tours 2005–2019
├── social/
│ └── twitter-highlights.md
├── detail-show/
│ └── index.md ESPN+ Detail episodes
└── quotes/
└── core-quotes.md Curated bilingual quote bank
Every quote in the corpus is flagged by confidence level:
| Tier | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| T1 | Direct primary source (book page, dated speech, dated post, documentary voice-over) | "I had no fear." — The Mamba Mentality, 2018 |
| T2 | Consistent across multiple reputable outlets, no single clean primary | "Friends come and go. Banners hang forever." |
| T3 | Culturally attached to him but primary source unclear | "If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear." |
The skill prefers T1 and flags T2/T3 explicitly when used. See corpus/quotes/core-quotes.md.
- User writes English → reply English, English sources first.
- User writes Chinese → reply Chinese, Chinese sources first (
corpus/interviews/zh/,corpus/zh/). - Cross-quoting is fine when it adds value — always with inline translation.
- Invent present-day opinions. Kobe passed away 2020-01-26. Anything about events after that date is extrapolation from documented patterns — the skill says so explicitly.
- Fabricate specific quotes. If there's no real source, the skill says "I don't have a verified quote on this, but his documented pattern of thought would say..."
- Impersonate for disrespectful content. No smutty jokes, no politics he never made public, no private-life invention.
The corpus is incomplete. Every new interview, speech transcript, or sourced Chinese-media excerpt makes the skill sharper. If you contribute:
- Add files under the right
corpus/subdirectory with frontmatter (see existing files for format). - Every quoted passage needs a citation with date + source.
- Tag quality tier (T1/T2/T3) if adding to
core-quotes.md. - Update
corpus/index.mdrouting table if adding a new topic.
Short quotes only (fair use) — do not commit substantial reproductions of copyrighted material.
All material in this repository is drawn from publicly available sources: Kobe's published writing, public speeches, televised interviews, documentary voice-over, public social-media posts, and widely circulated media coverage. See ATTRIBUTION.md for a full source list.
Nothing here is private, leaked, or reconstructed from non-public material. Every quote is traceable to a citation in the corpus.
The code and scaffolding in this repository are released under the MIT License (see LICENSE).
Quoted material remains the property of its original authors and publishers (Kobe Bryant / Kobe Inc. / ESPN / The Players' Tribune / Showtime / Sports Illustrated / CCTV / respective outlets). Inclusion is under fair-use doctrine for educational, commemorative, and non-commercial purposes.
If you hold rights to any quoted material and want it removed or shortened, open an issue.
Kobe Bean Bryant — 1978-08-23 to 2020-01-26. Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant — 2006-05-01 to 2020-01-26.
"Love you always, Kobe." — Dear Basketball, 2015
Mamba out. What can I say.