The BEST Kobe Bryant stories that prove his OBSESSION

indicated. Yes, the defeat for all of you was the most difficult and the victory. It was the sweetest thing doing it without Shaq, yeah, yeah, doing it without Shaq, oh man, that was cold. We had four stars, man, you know we did, for everything, he was the only incredible one in power. He had two, yes, Pogba saw, but he toughened Pog. We're all up, oh man, because in the first finals we went through Pogba, oh, I've seen Kobe annihilate. Friend Gasol and I lean to the side like brother, you can't let this happen just listen to what he says, but let me , he let you know how crazy I am, you had to like me good, yeah, it was that bad, like good friends. head, but like you said, he made it a lot harder, he did it, made him a hall of famer, yeah, yeah, made him a hall of famer, rob

kobe

powell, just another hero of skills, i don't think you can teach a dog, but

kobe

puts some of his dog in powell and it's funny that you recognize, yeah, i saw the difference in this game, whatever it is, so this is 2008, so they had just lose to the Celtics in the finals, tragically, if memory serves, then open the newspaper and there's like this article about it and there's a picture of Paul Pierce, so I see it, we were and you know, like it was Kobe Bryant.

Listen, it's 2008. We're all sitting there. Kobe Bryant sits down and pours a glass of wine. We're like. What do you know and then we look and he's ripping out the picture of Paul Pierce, so he cuts it out, folds it, puts it in his pocket and like we're all watching, you know what's going on? as motivation, and then he proceeded to drink the wine from him, pour another glass, pour the third and he was basically like he looked up and said now I'm in your guys' heads, we're like, okay. like we didn't know we didn't know we were running well, but I think those two things, one after the other, I was like, oh, that's what he is, that's what he is, you know, it was fun for some reason. um, during that day or that night when Michael said hey, I'm going to dinner and we're going to catch up, I was like, "Oh, great, okay, you're in town and when you go to dinner with him, you always know that there's you know there's going to be people that you have to sneak in you know so that's okay I'll get there and you know I always try to get there like 10 or 15 minutes early so that way wherever I am coming in through the part from the back, from the front or whatever, yeah, like someone else was going to find us here, I thought it was okay, I didn't even think to ask who was coming and lo and behold, you know, you know Mr.

Bryant, the late Kobe Bryant . shows up and it was great and it was one of those moments that was great because you saw the respect that they both have for each other, but they couldn't help but ignite the competitive spirit and they just had this virtual dialogue so to speak and I didn't say a word, I just sat there and just watched where they were saying how the game would be played if they caught the ball here. I just remember well if I catch the ball on the left wing with the live dribble how would you defend me and them in the detail they were going over these abstract ideas that's what really caught my attention was yeah well how are you going to catch the ball?

Who asks? Do you know who asked those questions? you know what you know what your pivot foot is you know what the score of the game is and then they just did this in all these different places how would you defend me if I had it here? what would you do if it was? and I just remember thinking You know, I had the pleasure of watching them as their geniuses and the fact that they didn't have to play a game but could play it in their head to me was much more impressive than watching them play because clearly you know you would want to see them in their peak, but they were able to mentally play this game and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life, yeah, and I remember the conclusion of all this, I mean this.

What continued for quite some time was that they both came to the conclusion that they only agreed on one thing: Michael Jordan had bigger hands than him and that was the deciding factor. I think you can see special talents in people. Well, many people have a special talent. but they waste it or never use it and watch the growth spurt with it to watch the trials and tribulations because in practice he was dribbling past five guys and dunking, okay, you can't win that way and it took him a while. to understand that there was a process for him to get involved and play on a team on a team that could win, he became the leader of the group, I think because he started so young that it resonated with so many people, the little kids who were hopeful and dreams like the ones he had watching him go to a big summer game.

Well, the place was packed and my son told me a story earlier today and obviously I was there. I think he scored 29 points when he was 17 years old. After the game, he commented to my son that it was so easy and you start thinking, think to yourself that at 17 you can't even sign a contract yet, huh, but he was just the closer you are to him, people. he saw this serious side, he was funny, he could laugh, he could laugh at himself, but like I say, he brought joy to so many little kids who had the same admiration and the same desire to do something unique.