Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was not exactly the most pleasant teammate in the NBA. The Black Mamba had a reputation of riding his teammates hard, which sometimes has the tendency of being misinterpreted of Kobe just being an a–hole.
Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy recently guested on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's All The Smoke podcast, and the long-time LA coach tried to shed some light as to why Kobe was the way he was:
“His realness, man,” Handy responded when asked what he remembers the most about Kobe Bryant. “He was misunderstood. I asked him one time, ‘Why you such an a–hole?' I asked him that. And he said, ‘You really wanna know? Some of my teammates don't understand the work. I see dudes walking into practice 10 minutes before practice and they leave right after. Why the f–k am I going to pass them the basketball? I don't respect their work ethic.
Handy did not end there. He went on to share how Kobe took this lack of passion as an insult:
“I'm in here busting my ass everyday trying to perfect my craft and these dudes don't want to work on their game. I don't trust them. So I'm not going to pass them the basketball. I'm gonna ride them hard everyday,” Kobe said, per Handy.
Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy told a classic story about Kobe’s “realness” on All The Smoke 🐍 #MambaMentality
(🎥: @Matt_Barnes22, @94FeetOfGame, @ShoBasketball) pic.twitter.com/pbrb8Uo5nQ
— JP Baudelaire (@ImJust_JP) June 18, 2021
I see no lies here. Kobe Bryant made it no secret as well. When he did not like how you carried yourself on the basketball court, Bryant made sure to let it be known. The Lakers legend did not shy away from confrontation and he wasn't afraid of creating conflict. That's just who he was ane we love him for it.
Kobe's no-nonsense attitude did not sit well with everyone. He had numerous spats with former teammates, and most of them were well-documented. In the end, however, we all now understand that this was all brought about by Bryant's incessant desire to win at all costs.
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