When you talk basketball, a lot of great players come to mind. You have your Michael Jordan’s, Lebron James’, Larry Birds, and of course – your Kobe Bean Bryant’s.
Yes, people born in the 1990’s seem to hold Kobe to a very high degree when compared to how others felt about Kobe from the 1980s and earlier. In fact, I actually ran a poll on my personal Twitter that asked if people felt Kobe was overrated. Surprisingly, a lot of people thought he was. This shocked me, but so is the internet, right?
There’s been a lot of stories about Kobe and one of the best stories seem to come from within the NBA league. While appearing on the CLUB SHAY SHAY podcast, former Los Angeles Lakers star Lamar Odom tells Shannon Sharpe what Kobe Bryant’s reaction and mindset were after his ex-teammate Shaquille O’Neal won a title with the Miami Heat.
Kobe obviously hated to lose and as is ‘Mamba Mentality,’ Kobe would often punish himself if he didn’t feel that he did enough or did all that he could do. Seeing Shaq take home the chip wasn’t really what got to Kobe as he was trying to let things go between him and Shaq.
What really hurt Kobe was not having that trophy. According to Lamar Odom, who also has a Kobe tattoo, Kobe said the following after he witnessed Shaq holding the trophy high above his head: “That could’ve been our title too. I’m going to get me one…I know I’m going to get me one.”
Without Shaq, Kobe would go on to grab two back to back rings in 2009 and 2010 with Paul Gasol as his new right hand mind instead. Ending his career, Kobe would go down with an impressive five rings.
Special thanks to Talk Basket.
