Kobe Bryant was famous for his hard work and being intensely hard on his teammates. After all, nobody wins five NBA championships by accident. If he saw that you weren't going to work as hard as him, he wouldn't respect you. While not too many NBA fans will remember Jodie Meeks, he was part of a rare group that earned Kobe's respect. Unfortunately for him, he had to earn it in a way he never expected.

It all started in 2012 when Meeks signed as a free agent with the Lakers. Fans had high expectations for their newly constructed super team. They just acquired Steve Nash and Dwight Howard on top of having Kobe and Pau Gasol on their roster. Meeks was ready for the challenge. One night, he wanted to get familiar with the rims at Staples Center and decided to work out at around 10 p.m. Once he got there, he checked to see if anyone else was working out. In the weight room, locker room, he found nobody, or so he thought.

After almost two hours of shooting with barely any lights on, Meeks decided to call it a day. He went back to the locker room, had a quick shower, and when he came back, was surprised to see Kobe in a full sweat! Meeks' reaction when he saw Kobe is one of the funniest things you'll read today:

“I thought no one was there because all the lights were off in the weight room. I’m done and about to get dressed and go home, and Kobe walks in. He kind of scared me because my back was at the door. I’m like, ‘You were here?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, I was here the whole time in the weight room watching you,” said Jodie Meeks.

Meeks also went on to say that when Kobe saw how hard he worked during a random day in the offseason, he earned his respect:

“I really respect how you go about your craft,” said Kobe Bryant.

It just goes to show that Kobe would do whatever it took to win. This apparently included stalking them late at night observing how hard they were going to work.

When Kobe's Mamba Mentality SCARED His Teammate 😎 I Clutch #Shorts – YouTube