One of the most famous things about late Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant was the way he treated his teammates during his legendary near 20-year career with the franchise, which culminated in five championship victories and many other deep playoff runs. While Bryant was known to be quite harsh at times on his teammates and expect nothing less than one hundred percent effort, it was still very clear that the Lakers icon cared deeply about them and wanted the best for everyone in the locker room.
One of Bryant's teammates during his legendary tenure with the Lakers was Matt Barnes, who spent two years in Los Angeles from 2010-2012 as one of his many NBA stops across the league. Recently, Barnes stopped by Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George's Podcast P With Paul George podcast, presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, to shed some light on how Bryant had his back when he racked up fines under then-commsisioner David Stern.
“I don't even know what the incident was, but I feel like I knew what my role was, and that's why I played until… A lot of guys, and I don't even mean to sound conceited, and I was a role player, and I know that I played until I didn't want to play no more,” said Barnes, per Podcast P With Paul George on YouTube. “Not everybody could say that. You know what I mean? Because I knew what my role was. So a lot of the times the s*** would go down. It wasn't because people were f****** me. It was because people were f****** with CP, Blake, Kobe, the guys that I played for. And I never claimed to be the toughest, but if we're going to war as a team, I'm going to be on the front line with you. I'll probably even throw the first punch if I really know you're going to take care of the fine….So yeah, Kobe was the only one that stepped to the plate, even though probably 400 of that was for taking up for teammates. Kobe was my dog, though. That's why I say, Kobe was my dog for real.”
Barnes went on to explain that he didn't even realize at times until later on that the Lakers icon had covered them.
“I think one of the ladies told me. He didn't tell me. Like, Kobe took care of your fine. I'm like, What? Really? My dog. That's my dog,” said Barnes.
A legendary career
Kobe Bryant established himself as one of the game's premier icons during his legendary Lakers career, which culminated in a 60-point performance vs the Utah Jazz in his final game back in the 2015-16 season. Along the way, Bryant helped deliver five championships to the Lakers, winning two Finals MVPs and one regular season MVP in the process.
Tragically, Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and several others passed away in a helicopter crash in 2020. It's comforting to see that his memory is still holding strong as told by Barnes and many of his other former Lakers teammates.
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