I was reading an article just the other day about Kobe talking about how he'd memorized the referees handbooks about where they were supposed to be on the floor for given player positions/times/etc, and how he would use that to be in the blind spots. (in fairness probably some level of exaggeration there, but given his stats and the way he got calls/no calls to go his way so much more often than not, there is something to it)<p>The man had an exceptional level of focus for his craft, and he paired that with natural talent and hard work to become a legend on the court.<p>“I made a point of reading the referee’s handbook. One of the rules I gleaned from it was that each referee has a designated slot where he is supposed to be on the floor. If the ball, for instance, is in place W, referees X, Y, and Z each have an area on the court assigned to them. ...When they do that, it creates dead zones, areas on the floor where they can’t see certain things. I learned where those zones were, and I took advantage of them. I would get away with holds, travels, and all sorts of minor violations simply because I took the time to understand the officials’ limitations.”