Kobe Bryant, the Mamba Mentality and a Lake Tahoe man

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - "You're the Black Mamba, but I'm the White Mamba," said a trash-talking 13-year-old in 2011 at the Kobe Bryant Basketball Academy in Santa Barbara.

"I would constantly approach Kobe at any opportunity, even when I wasn't supposed to, pestering him to play me one-on-one," says a now 21-year-old Palmer Chaplin. "I berated him with trash talk about how I could beat him and he entertained it, saying stuff like 'that's not a game, that's a destruction."

Chaplin, who was a basketball and sports star at Whittell High School in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, attended the Bryant camp for several years before that one-on-one finally happened. Videos of that match have now been viewed millions of times on YouTube since Kobe died in a tragic helicopter crash in Southern California on January 26.

While millions across the globe were devastated at the news of Kobe's passing, not all can say they experienced a special bonding with the superstar.

"Kobe and I developed a small relationship through our trash talk and he made an effort to come watch my camp games, which was just another opportunity for me to talk trash to him," said Palmer. "Beyond that, we talked about the state of the NBA, where LeBron was going to sign, what shoes we liked most, etc."

To Palmer Kobe was much more than the Laker, basketball phenom and humanitarian he was. Kobe helped shape Palmer's values and life after what he stood for.

"The first time I identified Kobe as a role model must have been 2006 when he scored 81 against the Raptors," said Chaplin who is now in his final year of playing college hoops at Cal Luthern. "I was pretty young, only 8, so I didn't fully appreciate him for more than just a pure scorer and competitor. I admired his skill and ability, but over the years I quickly learned how much more there was to admire about him."

Long before that iconic match on the court with Kobe, a young Chaplin was already given the nickname of "White Mamba" by his family. He had shoes and hats with the name embroidered on them at the camp, but all the campers thought he made it up just to get under Kobe's skin.

"I've tried to model my work ethic, competitiveness, relentlessness after Kobe my entire life and my family was totally bought in on it, thus the nickname," he added.

At the end of the 2011 camp, Kobe signed his 2010 Laker Championship hat "1 on 1! -KB."

"The following year I came back with more trash talk in my arsenal and when the opportunity presented itself, I told him "you might be the Black Mamba, but I'm the White Mamba. As soon as I said it, I saw that I triggered something in him, and I thought maybe I took it too far. Later that night, he called me up in front of the whole camp, and over the microphone, started talking trash just as you would expect Kobe to do with an NBA player, going as far as to make fun of the brand of shorts I was wearing," recalls Palmer.

As that 13-year-old, Palmer now looks back and remembers he was nervous during the one-on-one match.

"I remember my hands shaking just tying my shoes while getting ready to play Kobe," said Palmer. "I was nervous because I truly thought I could beat him. I watch the video every now and then and I can't help but critique my 13-year-old self. He certainly didn't take it easy on me either. When I checked the ball to him to start the game, I shoved it into his chest and he took it and drove past me, and dunked on me. That's the Mamba Mentality. That's what Kobe was about."

"I must be half of the 23 million hits it has now," he joked about the videos.

"Kobe Bryant was a phenomenal human being and I was lucky enough to make a pretty incredible memory with him," said Palmer. "I've learned so much about the Mamba Mentality and what it means to dedicate yourself fully to your craft, even when it isn't athletics. He taught me how to be the ultimate competitor in life, competing to get the absolute most out of every moment. His drive to be an incredible father, women's sports advocate, filmmaker, author, you name it, is unparalleled."

When Palmer learned of Kobe's death he went out and had a tattoo with the word "Mamba" added to his forearm. Not being big on tattoos in the past, Palmer knew if he ever got one it would have to be incredibly meaningful and not something impulsive.

"The new tattoo was just that, incredibly impulsive, but very meaningful," said Palmer. "It isn't just about Kobe passing away, it isn't about him as a player, and it isn't even about his competitiveness. To me, it represents what I've learned from Kobe on the court, off the court, the relationships I've built through basketball, and the person I've become as a result of looking up to him."

Besides the tattoo, Palmer is continuing the honor of his idol through the wearing of his shoes. Mom Carol Chaplin (Lake Tahoe Visitor Authority Executive Director) is taking him six pairs of Kobe basketball shoes he can wear them during his final games as a college player.

"Wearing Kobe's shoes in games just feels like a small tribute that I can give to him and his legacy as a player and a person in my last season of college basketball," said Palmer. "I love shoes, but I really don't believe they should sit on a shelf collecting dust. I want to wear my shoes into the ground and I know Kobe wouldn't want me or anyone else keeping their shoes on the shelf to "collect value" or something like that. Plus, it's honestly just fun to bring back the memories I've had in each pair."

Prior to January 26, Chaplin said he didn't understand fans who would be so heartbroken over a celebrity's death. He now understands as Kobe's passing "hit me like a train."

Even though the Mamba is a venomous African snake and the subject of many legends and stories, the Mamba Mentality isn't about having the killer instinct.

"It's about having a relentless drive for progress, improvement, and burning passion for whatever you do in life," explained Palmer. "I want to remind myself to do that every day because if you aren't doing that, then what's the point?"

Palmer's college basketball career hasn't been the easiest. In his four years, he's had four head coaches which has led to a lot of turnover both in staff and players. He said his goal there has been to leave a good foundation for the players that are coming, and are still to come, through the program.

When he graduates this year with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Honors Studies, Palmer plans on spending the summer traveling as well as a trip to Portugal and Morocco with the SCIAC All-Stars.

After that, he will be working for Amazon, a company he interned for last summer. He's already accepted a job offer where he will be doing software development and cloud architecture for Amazon Web Services.

"I hope every fan out there continues his legacy for him," said Palmer. "Mamba Forever."

(There are several YouTube videos circulating of the Black Mamba versus White Mamba one on one. Besides the one attached to this story, others can be seen here