Jewell Loyd recently won her third WNBA championship, the first with her new team, the Las Vegas Aces. Kobe Bryant, the late basketball great, dubbed her the “Gold Mamba”. At 32, she’s an indisputable celebrity, but boy, does she love her time off the court. In an interview with Yahoo’s “OT Diaries,” she discusses how pickleball, cleaning the home and spending time with her partner help her reset, as well as why she’s enjoying the WNBA’s growing prominence as a veteran of the game.

Jewell Loyd opens up about Kobe Bryant’s inspiring guidance and her emotional journey to a third title

Jewell Loyd and Kobe Bryant had a strong mentoring, with Bryant giving her the moniker “Gold Mamba”. Their bond extended beyond basketball, with Bryant serving as a mentor, encouraging her to take on new challenges and even assisting her with his novel because he knew reading was difficult for her.

Loyd was coached by Bryant and was tremendously moved by his loss, dedicating a WNBA title to him and his daughter, Gianna.

Jewel recently won her third WNBA championship, her first with her current team, the Las Vegas Aces. Kobe Bryant, the late basketball great, dubbed her the “Gold Mamba”. At 32, she’s an indisputable celebrity, but boy, does she love her time off the court.”He wrote me a letter. I actually have it tattooed on my hand, and I look at it every day.

It says, ‘Be epic and create forever.’ That’s what he always told me to do. He didn’t tell me how to do it, he didn’t tell me what it looked like. – Jewell Loyd, WNBA star..”

Loyd spends her offseason playing pickleball, cleaning the house, trying a new pastime, and spending time with her girlfriend. In this interview with Yahoo’s OT Diaries, she explains why such things help her reset — and why she’s enjoying the WNBA’s increased prominence as a veteran of the game.“Every five years, there’s been some kind of shift, whether it’s the style of play, the social media, the dress code, the fans, the gyms, the stadiums and so on. So it’s definitely changed and I think that’s good.. I think the fans are starting to see it too. … People are learning that we’re not just athletes. We have other interests; we do other things. They’re starting to really lock in on who we are outside of basketball, which is really cool.

”She further said:“He wrote me a letter. I actually have it tattooed on my hand, and I look at it every day. It says, “Be epic and create forever.” That’s what he always told me to do. He didn’t tell me how to do it, he didn’t tell me what it looked like. … Once [he died], I started thinking about my life and how I can affect change in other people and having access to certain things that I do. How do I give that back? How do I serve others?”Now that Jewell Loyd won her third WNBA championship, she is overjoyed, recalling Kobe in the prior occasion.