Norman Powell is one of the most pleasant surprises of the NBA season through the first two months. Last year, he played the sixth-man role on the Clippers. This year, after the departure of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard’s injury, he is the one leading the team. In his latest interview, Norman Powell talks about how Kobe Bryant influenced his improvement.
Norman Powell Credits Kobe Bryant for His Improvement
Bryant was widely known in the league for his amazing work ethic. He often said that he could outwork anybody and that improvement from working like a maniac resulted in five championship rings. In the latest episode of the Hoop Collective, Powell talked about his work ethic as well.
“I took the Kobe System and made my own little thing, but you know, just the part about sacrifice and committing to the game, committing to the process of getting better. That is what I took from his mamba mentality.”
Powell might be one of the hardest workers on the Clippers roster and in the league. His improvement might be a surprise for people who haven’t spent time with him, but even Ty Lue recently talked about how Norman has always had the potential to be a great player.
Speaking of his workout routine, Powell explained,
“I work out three times a day, five days a week, sometimes six, depending on how I’m feeling. I start at five o’clock, sometimes 4:30 in the summer, go for an hour, or an hour and a half, then come back do my recovery rest stuff, and then go back. Then I do my weights and conditioning at noon, and then come back to do the same thing, do another recovery session, have lunch, and then later do more of a skill-based workout. I work on footwork, shooting, off the dribble things that I need to improve.”
Norman talked about how his trainer does the scouting from other teams. And when teams are trying to exploit some of his weaknesses, Powell works on them during the season.
Powell’s Improvement Might Result In an All-Star Nod
In that same interview, Powell talked about how he would like to be an All-Star one day. With the way he is carrying the Clippers offense so far, he might be. Of course, it depends on voting and standings, but he does have a case. Powell is the leading scorer of the Clippers and is doing it efficiently.
This year, he is averaging 23.6 points on 49.2% shooting from the floor and 48.6% from behind the arc. In addition, he gets three rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. The latter is another aspect in which he has improved. The 2.5 assists are the highest season average of his career and only the second time he has averaged more than two assists per game. With teams scheming to stop him, he has had to create more offense for his team. Powell’s playmaking might not be on the level of elite wings, but he is good enough to find the open man when teams double him.
If he can keep up this output for the remainder of the season, he will definitely be in the talks for the Most Improved Player Award. He finished sixth in voting in the previous two seasons.
What is the Kobe System?
The Kobe Bryant workout routine is one of the most rigorous routines out there. There are countless Kobe’s work ethic stories told by players and trainers. Dwyane Wade summarized it best when he talked about the 2008 Olympics experience. Wade talked about how all the players were working out, but Kobe was different:
“We go to a different city and we all work out. Me, Melo, LeBron, we all do our workout. Then, we go to sleep, and after three hours we go get some food. And Kobe Bryant is sitting there with ice on his knees. At that moment, we just finished a workout three hours ago, and you’ve done another workout?”
Many people have called Kobe’s workout routine the 666 program. Kobe spent 2 hours on basketball, 2 hours running, and 2 hours weightlifting. Norman Powell hasn’t talked about his workout before, but he is following almost the exact system and it resulted in a huge improvement.
