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Late NBA great Kobe Bryant spent his entire 20-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s no secret that the Black Mamba saw a revolving door of Purple and Gold teammates over that lengthy period.
He certainly established life-long bonds with some of his brethren, particularly those who helped him win five Larry O’ Brien trophies. However, Kobe Bryant's fiery and over-the-top competitive attitude also didn’t make him a lot of friends during his heyday. Kobe exuded greatness and he demanded the same level of hard work and dedication from his teammates.
Some took on the challenge, while others hated Bryant’s guts for it. The feeling was mutual, as Kobe had no love lost for underachieving players.
Here are 10 of Kobe’s least favorite teammates of all-time.
10. Jeremy Lin
Bryant pretty much wasn’t fond of the entire Lakers squad in 2014-15. The team floundered at the bottom of the standings and even had the audacity to celebrate on those rare times they won.
Lin was the starting point guard of that mediocre unit and he certainly received some of Bryant’s ire . Last May, the Taiwanese-American guard shared how an injured Kobe once crashed their practice to “say goodbye to the bums” who were going to get traded on the deadline.
Also, remember the time when Lin boldly waived Kobe off before hitting a three?
9. Sasha Vujacic
Kobe’s relationship with the Slovenian star was pretty amicable, but it got off on a rocky start. The pair play the same position and often guarded one another during practices. Things got so heated one time that Bryant reportedly elbowed Vujacic to the face for no apparent reason.
The 6-foot-7 scrappy guard went on win two titles with Bryant in 2009 and 2010. It’s also worth noting that Kobe’s spat with the reserve guard is eerily similar to Michael Jordan’s melee with Steve Kerr back in 1997.
8. Chris Mihm
Bryant does have a history of squabbling with his centers. Mihm assumed the starting 5 position for the Lakers in the post-Shaq era. Those size 22s were certainly hard to fill, as Mihm was pretty underwhelming for LA during his five-year stay.
Kobe reportedly rode Mihm so hard that it practically got him kicked off the team in 2009. Reporters even once quoted Bryant claiming: “What was I supposed to do, pass the ball to Chris Mihm? Chris Mihm?”
7. Andrew Bynum
Speaking of centers that didn’t satisfy Bryant’s standards, Bynum was yet another casualty. While Kobe absolutely adored Pau Gasol during his stay in LA, he wasn’t particularly fond of his frontcourt mate.
One article even pointed out how Kobe defended Bynum from the press, but still refused to feed him the ball during games.
Bynum, on the other hand, once claimed that Kobe stagnated his development with his selfish ways. He ultimately became a one-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion before injuries derailed his career.
6. Nick Young
In hindsight, Bryant and Young’s personalities couldn’t have been more different. It’s quite clear from the get-go that the former’s no-nonsense attitude would clash with the latter’s carefree demeanor.
Injuries only allowed Bryant to play 47 games with Young in three seasons, but it was evident that he had little tolerance for the immature guard’s shenanigans on and off the court. Young even recalled the time he talked thrash to Kobe in practice, which, of course, comically backfired on him.
5. Karl Malone
The NBA legend could have played more than one season with the Purple and Gold if not for his deteriorating relationship with Bryant. Malone was part of the 2003-04 Lakers squad that got humiliated by the underdog Detroit Pistons in the Finals.
Malone reportedly wanted to re-sign with LA over the summer. However, an ugly rumor claiming that the Mailman tried to seduce Kobe’s wife Vanessa ultimately made his relationship with Bryant irreparable. That was the last time he played in the NBA after confirming his retirement in 2005.
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4. Kwame Brown
Another thing Jordan and Kobe had in common was their disdain for Kwame Brown. The beef wasn’t a knock on Kwame as a person, but rather for his putrid basketball skills and poor work ethic.
Bryant absolutely loathed the former no.1 overall pick and often lambasted him for his inability to catch the ball. The Black Mamba even told the press how a scared Brown once begged him not to pass him the ball while playing against the Pistons.
Safe to say Kobe was beyond pleased when the Lakers included Brown in the package to acquire Gasol from Memphis.
3. Dwight Howard
Howard was supposed to be the Lakers’ next great center. While he was indeed dominant during his first stint with LA, the 8-time All-Star constantly fooled around and had the tendency to disappear in crucial stretches of the game.
This, of course, infuriated Bryant. Kobe knew just how unstoppable Dwight could be and tried to push him to greatness. Sadly, Howard didn’t share the same ruthless mindset and often clashed with Bryant.
When Howard left the Lakers for the Rockets in 2013, he and Bryant got into it after a physical altercation in-game. This is when Bryant infamously called Howard “soft”. The pair eventually mended fences and Bryant was even a big factor in the Lakers’ decision to bring Howard back this season.
2. Smush Parker
As far as pure hatred goes, Kobe Bryant just didn’t like Parker from the beginning. Bryant was used to playing alongside successful point guards like Derek Fisher and Ron Harper. Imagine his disappointment when he had to share the backcourt with the undrafted Parker from 2005-07.
Kobe did not mince his words abut Smush, labeling him as “the worst”. Bryant even publicly stated that Parker was only starting because the Lakers did not have enough money for a real point guard at the time. Parker was even barred from talking to Bryant during team practices.
“You can’t talk to me. You need more accolades under your belt before you come talk to me,” Kobe reportedly told Smush.
1. Shaquille O’Neal
Kobe and Shaq’s love-hate relationship is indeed worthy of a Hollywood screenplay. Despite being the most unguardable one-two punch in the history of basketball, the duo never really saw eye-to-eye throughout the time they spent as teammates.
There’s simply a laundry list of the pair’s often petty transgressions towards one another. Winning was the only thing that kept them together in the early 2000s. Once they failed to do so, the pair figured in a bitter breakup in 2004.
To this day, pundits believe that Lakers squad could have had more titles had Kobe and Shaq stayed together. They eventually buried the hatchet as time passed and even became co-MVPs in the 2009 All-Star game. Shaq even admitted that he wished he called Bryant more often following Kobe’s untimely passing last January.
