Kobe Bryant was one competitive dude. This is exactly why he was in a very sour mood following the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA Finals defeat at the hands of the Detroit Pistons back in 2004. Youngster Kareem Rush ended up on the receiving end of a savage remark from a clearly frustrated Kobe Bryant, only the comment was actually about Shaquille O'Neal.

Best-selling author Jeff Pearlman recently made an appearance on the Dunks & Discourse podcast, and he told a hilarious anecdote about Kobe taking out his anger on an unwitting Rush right after the Lakers lost to the Pistons in five games.

According to Pearlman, the exchange went down the same night the Lakers had just lost to the Pistons in Detroit. Lakers owner Jerry Buss threw some sort of consolation party for the Lakers, and during the event, Rush appeared to be having a good time, even claiming that it was a still a “great year” despite the loss. That was, of course, until Kobe laid eyes on him and uttered an epic seven-word, NSFW haymaker to Rush about Shaq:

“I ain't playing with that motherf***er again.”

Listen to the pod here:

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Needless to say, Bryant was not in a good mood at that point in time, and he decided not to hold back with his criticism. The Kobe-Shaq feud had been going on for some time at that point, and Bryant was extremely frustrated after the Lakers' wretched showing in the Finals. They were the heavy favorite, only to go out meekly against a rugged Pistons squad.

Of course, the Lakers went out and traded Shaq a month later to the Miami Heat, officially ending the dynasty. Kobe went on to win two more championships in Los Angeles in 2009 and 2010. Shaq won a title with Miami in 2006.

Editor's Note: The original version of this story said Kobe was talking about Rush, but he was actually talking to Rush about Shaq. The story has been corrected to reflect this.