Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the passing of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. Fans, players, front office members, reporters, and just about anyone else who's picked up a basketball celebrated the life of Bryant. That included Cleveland Cavs forward/center Larry Nance Jr., who says he's forever grateful to the Black Mamba.
Nance Jr. played only one season, his rookie season, with Bryant during the 2015-16 campaign, which was also Kobe's final year in the NBA. As most remember, that season was a whirlwind once Bryant announced he was retiring at the end of the conclusion of his 20th year in the NBA. For Larry Nance Jr., that whirlwind began far before opening night or Bryant's announcement. For Nance Jr., it began Thursday, June 25, 2015.
Nance Jr., the son of 13-year NBA veteran and 3-time NBA All-Star Larry Nance, was supposed to have the biggest day of his life when he was selected 27th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2015 NBA Draft. Instead, it quickly turned into a nightmare thanks to social media.
Investigative Twitter users did some digging and found a tweet from Nance Jr. dating back to May of 2012.
The tweet went viral, and by the end of the night, Larry Nance Jr. was petrified at the possible consequences for his comments about his now-teammate.
In an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints to talk about his small business initiative, Larry Nance Jr. talked about a number of topics ranging from the Cavs and Lakers to LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
“I don’t know how old I was,” Nance Jr. said as he thought back many years ago. “I wanna say I was 16 when I tweeted that and it was… It was stupid, you know. It was stupid. People do stupid things when they’re young and I made a stupid tweet.”
Not only did the tweet immediately catch the eyes of the Lakers, but it also reached Bryant himself with haste.
Looking back at his time playing with Bryant, Nance Jr. explained the waves of emotions he went through.
“It was terrifying, exciting, nerve-racking, it was — I want to look back on it and say it was the best, but like I just remember my emotions then and it was like in awe,” Nance Jr. added. “You were just in awe of him because Kobe. Kobe he's a walking legend. You shoot the piece of paper in the trash can, you yell Kobe. People that don’t watch basketball know what that is. Plus, his reputation was like being rough on his teammates at practice and so I didn’t know what to do.”
To Junior's pleasant surprise, the Bryant everyone said was a bad teammate and a harsh leader was the opposite to him.
“I get there and he was nothing but kind to me. I’ll never forget that because he had several opportunities and reasons to not be so kind and so I just think the world of him. I thought it before everything happened last year. He’s the man. He’s the man.”
Nance Jr. admits that the fear of meeting Bryant following the Draft came from the tweet itself.
“100%. All of it. All of it.
“I texted him, he was on vacation after the draft or something, I texted him and just apologized for it and he texted me back right away just saying, ‘Hey, water under the bridge, don’t worry about it, welcome to the team.’ It was like the greatest sigh of relief ever but he could still make my life hell, but he didn’t.”
Nance Jr.'s had a solid rookie season with the Lakers, one that quickly (and rightfully) became focused on Kobe Bryant's final year in the NBA. He really started to show off his versatility as his career took off in his second season with the Lakers. He was traded back home to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2017-18 season. In only his third season, Nance Jr. was thrust into a key role in the Cavs' NBA Finals run led by LeBron James.
None of that would be possible if Kobe Bryant didn't open up his heart, accept a young player under his wing, and allow him to learn from those mistakes.
“He had an opportunity to ruin my career before it even started. He took that opportunity to teach a young basketball player, and for that, I’ll be forever grateful. I wouldn’t be right here. I wouldn’t be here right now, I wouldn’t have gotten to play for Cleveland, I wouldn’t have gotten to play in the Finals at all. He could’ve ended by career right then, and so I’m thankful to him for that forever. He’s good in my book because he could’ve ended my career before it started and he didn't.”
"He had an opportunity to ruin my career before it even started. He took that opportunity to teach a young basketball player. For that, I’ll be forever grateful.”
In our interview, @Larrydn22 tells me about meeting Lakers' Kobe Bryant and the impact he had on his career. pic.twitter.com/pGOZFQY0AT
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 26, 2021
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