Raja Bell admits he genuinely hated Kobe Bryant

In his heyday, Raja Bell was considered as one of the best one-on-one defenders in the game, and he recently admitted the hate he had for Kobe Bryant.

In his heyday, Raja Bell was considered as one of the best one-on-one defenders in the game. His physical and tenacious style made his very effective against guarding the premiere scorers of the NBA. One of those scorers he often matched up with is Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

One of their most memorable matchups happened in the 2006 NBA Playoffs where Bell was suspended for a game for clotheslining Bryant in Game Five of their series. In a recent interview with HoopsHype, Bell says that he took the matchup personally and genuinely hated Kobe Bryant at that time.

“I don’t know how Kobe felt, but I genuinely hated the cat at that time,” said Bell. “I really didn’t like him. Then the coolest part about it for me was once the time had passed and I saw him the next time, we started to develop a little bit of respect. There was a relationship that started to develop. We never became besties or anything like that, but there was a time when I’d reach out and see if he needed anything or somewhere to be for Thanksgiving if they were in town or I’d ask about his family and just check in.”

It's nice to see the mutual respect between the two competitors. Kobe Bryant was always know to give props to those people who pushed and challenged him.That respect was evident in 2010 when Kobe was trying to recruit Raja Bell to the Lakers to add some depth to the roster albeit that partnership never came to fruition.