In his first two years in the NBA, Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant came off the bench and played limited minutes. He later revealed that this irritated the hell out of him since he wanted to go out there and play.
However, according to Del Harris — the Lakers' coach during that time — he challenged Kobe to earn his stripes before getting some playing time.
Back in the 1996-97 season, the young Kobe played backup to Eddie Jones who was selected as an All-Star that year. While Harris saw infinite potential in Kobe, he believed that Bryant was too young to be given the responsibility of a starter.
“I told him that he would have to knock out a player before he'd get his spot. It was like a championship boxing match. In the Philippines, you know about boxing,” the former Lakers coach remarked, per Eros Villanueva of ESPN. “You don't get a decision over the champion. I mean you gotta knock him out. And I told him, ‘There will be a day when that happens, but it's not [now] yet.' He didn't like that at the time. He wanted to play all the time. But he appreciated it late. He told me.”
In Kobe Bryant's third year, he was eventually inserted into the starting line up. His minutes jumped from 26.0 minutes to 37.9 minutes. Harris, meanwhile, was fired 12 games into the 1998-99 campaign.
As already etched in history, Bryant and the Lakers won the NBA title in the next three seasons.