Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley recently shared one of the most memorable moments in his career as a broadcaster. The 57-year-old narrated how the late, great Kobe Bryant once cussed him out over the phone for no less than three hours straight.
Barkley shared his hilarious anecdote on an interview with Evan Daniels of 274Sports:
“The great Kobe Bryant one night, I remember the game he wouldn't shoot in the second half,” Barkley recalled. “I called him out after that. He shot one time in the second half. He was trying to prove a point that he didn't have any help. And I was livid with what he tried to do. And I called him out.”
That definitely sounds like something Kobe would do, and this was likely during one of the forgettable seasons of the Los Angeles Lakers. It appeared that Bryant wanted to force the front office to get him some help, but the method by which he did it did not sit well with Barkley one bit.
Bryant caught wind of Barkley's criticism and was very unhappy about it. So much so, that Kobe started verbally abusing Barkley — via text message.
“Kobe started texting me for the next three hours,” Barkley added. “And we're going back and forth and he's calling me every MF, every SOB in the world. And I'm laughing as I get these. I'm like, ‘Yo man, pick up the phone and call me'… It was awesome and we laughed about it, you know, later when we saw each other. But it was hilarious that he would not pick up the phone and he sends me at least 20 to 25 texts. It was awesome.”
We can only imagine how infuriated Kobe was at that point, and surely, he would have sensed how Barkley was so amused with how angry he was. Obviously, this was more of a heat-of-the-moment kind of (virtual) confrontation, so it's great that the pair was able to laugh it off later on.
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