Roger Pogoy was one of the lucky ones who took part in the Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Mentality Tour in 2016.
The Cebuano marksman was among the young players who had the rare opportunity to work with the global icon during the first day of the event held at the historic SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Pogoy and fellow FEU Tamaraws Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia were part of a selection of collegiate talents that took on a squad of PBA cagers featuring Jimmy Alapag and Jared Dillinger.
The younger hoopers lost to their seasoned counterparts, but it was still one thrilling experience for them. After all, none other than Bryant himself was guiding them from the sidelines.
But for Pogoy, who was 24 at that time, it wasn’t just the game itself that made that event so memorable for him.
Before the exhibition match — witnessed by nearly 10,000 fans inside the Big Dome — started, Bryant made the collegiate players do some drills, one of which was the planting rice set.
Pogoy caught the eye of the five-time NBA champion in the middle of it. But it was for the wrong reasons.
“Nakita niya ako na hindi nag-touch ng line. Sinita niya ako at pina-ulit kami,” the 6-foot-1 guard admitted with a chuckle in a short chat with Tiebreaker Times, Tuesday evening.
“Galing kasi kami practice nun, kaya parang dinaya ko rin ‘yung drills na ‘yun. Pagod na rin ako nun,” the Gilas Pilipinas member added, explaining why he did so.
“Nahiya ako, kasi maraming tao.”
According to Pogoy, that was when Bryant started preaching that there are no shortcuts towards success.
“Tapos sabi niya na walang shortcut sa success,” Pogoy recalled.
“Tapos sabi niya, yan ang Mamba Mentality.”
Pogoy may have felt humiliated by Bryant’s callout, but that has only helped him become better.
Since then, the Mamba Mentality has been ingrained within him, and the TNT KaTropa star will keep living with that philosophy as his way of honoring the late, great Kobe Bryant.
“Oo naman, malaking tulong ‘yung ganung pag-sita. Malaking impact na ‘yun sa akin as a player.”
