Quote Origin: Everything Negative—Pressure, Challenges—Is All An Opportunity For Me To Rise

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Kobe Bryant? Hasheem Thabeet? Apocryphal?

Basketball and hoop from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: Facing challenges and pressures in life can be disheartening, but psychologically reframing these experiences as a catalyst for positive growth and change is useful. Confronting and overcoming negative situations provides an opportunity to rise.

Prominent U.S. basketball player Kobe Bryant said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 2005 “The Pennsylvania Celebrities Cookbook” printed a collection of recipes together with quotations from well-known individuals including this item. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

“Everything negative—pressure, challenges—is all an opportunity for me to rise.”
Kobe Bryant, Basketball Player
Philadelphia, PA

A precise citation was not provided for the quotation ascribed to Kobe Bryant. QI has located other instances crediting Bryant in 2007, 2008, and later, but none point to a specific time and place. Perhaps future researchers will improve this evidence.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In 2007 a message in the Google Group named “Empowered Everyday – Daily Deep Breath” printed the quotation while crediting Bryant:2

“Pressure, challenges…all an opportunity for me to rise.” -Kobe Bryant

In May 2008 an article published in the “Daily Dispatch” of East London, South Africa contained an instance of the quotation:3

‘Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise’ — Kobe Bryant

In August 2008 another message in the Google Group named “Empowered Everyday – Daily Deep Breath” included an instance of the remark:4

“Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.” -Kobe Bryant

Also, in August 2008 a newspaper in Modesto, California printed a profile of a local high school student who was asked to specify a favorite quotation:5

FAVORITE QUOTE: “Everything negative  — pressure, challenges — is all an opportunity for me to rise.” — Kobe Bryant

In March 2009 basketball player Hasheem Thabeet employed a version of the saying within a message on X-Twitter:6

Everything Negative, Criticism, Pressure, Different Challenges, All The Haters… Is All an Opportunity For ME to Rise…!!!!

In April 2009 an X-Twitter message from @quotes4u credited the saying to Bryant:7

Everything negative… pressure, challenges, is all an opportunity for me to rise.~Kobe Bryant

In July 2009 “The Commercial Appeal” of Memphis, Tennessee published an article about Hasheem Thabeet which attributed an instance of the saying to him:8

Thabeet recently wrote: “Highly Motivated by Fear Of Failure!! All the Negativity, Critics, Pressure, All The Haters … It’s All an Opportunity For ME to Rise!”

In 2010 “It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over: The World’s Greatest Collection of Sports Quotes!” contained the following entry:9

‘Everything negative — pressure, challenges — is all an opportunity for me to rise.’
KOBE BRYANT
NBA SHOOTING GUARD

Also, in 2010 the book “Bringing Out the Best in Everyone You Coach” by Ginger Lapid-Bogda printed the following two remarks ascribed to Kobe Bryant:10

“I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.”

“Everything negative—pressure, challenges—is all an opportunity for me to rise.”

In 2021 Kobe Bryant’s daughter Natalia graduated from high school, and her graduation cap displayed the quotation according to the periodical “Black Enterprise”:11

Natalia also paid tribute to her father, Kobe Bryant, on her special day. Her USC-themed graduation cap included a quote from the Los Angeles Lakers superstar that read: “Everything negative ― pressures, challenges ― is all an opportunity for me to rise.”

In conclusion, there is substantive evidence that Kobe Bryant crafted this quotation, but QI has not yet found a direct citation pointing to a speech, interview, or article by him. Early attributions beginning in 2005 credit Kobe Bryant without giving details for the originating instance. Hasheem Thabeet employed the saying by 2009 after it was already in circulation. Future researchers may learn more.

Image Notes: Picture of a basketball and hoop from Tom Briskey at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Terry Szuplat whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.

  1. 2005, The Pennsylvania Celebrities Cookbook: Recipes & Quotes, Edited by John E. Schlimm II and Steven K. Troha, Chapter Two: For Tailgating, Quote Page 16, Stohn Books, St. Marys, Pennsylvania. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  2. Google Groups, Date: July 6, 2007, Time: 11:53:15 AM, Group Name: Empowered Everyday – Daily Deep Breath, Posted By: Faith not Fear, Subject: [Empowered Everyday] rise. (Google Groups Search; Accessed January 8, 2024) link ↩︎
  3. 2008 May 23, Daily Dispatch, Article: My Kinda Town Author/Byline: Bubalwa Lumko, Quote Page 4, East London, South Africa. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
  4. Google Groups, Date: Aug 5, 2008, Time: 7:00:02 AM, Group Name: Empowered Everyday – Daily Deep Breath, Posted By: Dr. Shelly P. Harrell – Honor Your Journey Services, Subject: [Empowered Everyday] opportunity to rise. (Google Groups Search; Accessed January 8, 2024) link ↩︎
  5. 2008 August 21, The Modesto Bee, 13 Things You Should Know About Me by Cody Daniel (Junior at Modesto Christian High School), Quote Page E-8, Column 1, Modesto, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  6. X-Tweet, From: B I G @HasheemTheDream, Timestamp: 3:53 AM, March 23, 2009, Text: Everything Negative, Criticism, Pressure … (Accessed on x.com on January 8, 2024) link ↩︎
  7. X-Tweet, From: All About Quotes @quotes4u, Timestamp: 1:23 PM, Apr 11, 2009, Text: Everything negative. (Accessed on x.com on January 8, 2024) link ↩︎
  8. 2009 July 12, The Commercial Appeal, Thabeet makes debut tonight by Ronald Tillery, Quote Page D1, Column 3, Memphis, Tennessee. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
  9. 2010, It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over: The World’s Greatest Collection of Sports Quotes!, Compiled by John Marlowe, Chapter: Character and Confidence, Quote Page 44, Arcturus Publishing, London. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  10. 2010, Bringing Out the Best in Everyone You Coach: Use the Enneagram System for Exceptional Results by Ginger Lapid-Bogda Ph.D., Chapter 5: Coaching Enneagram Style Three, Section: Famous Threes, Quote Page 83, McGraw-Hill, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  11. 2021 June 6, Black Enterprise (Online), Article: Kobe Bryant’s Daughter, Natalia Bryant, Graduates High School; Heading to Her Dream School This Fall, Author: Charlene Rhinehart, Publication Location: New York. (ProQuest) ↩︎