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Matt Barnes had a heated mini-rivalry with Kobe Bryant when they were playing against each other. Yet once, they donned the Los Angeles Lakers jersey together and the two became close friends.
On the Unfiltered podcast, Barnes spoke about being teammates with the NBA great:
“Amazing. Really cool, man. Especially because the way it came about. It started back at UCLA when he would come and work out and play. I remember thinking, ‘Damn, he’s only a year-and-a-half older than me? I’m going to have to be able to guard him.’ When I’m at UCLA I’m thinking that. I remember the one year he broke his right hand, so he was up at UCLA doing all left-handed workouts. That was the year he came back shooting left-handed all the time. He was doing his whole workout left-handed and I’m like, ‘This dude is a [expletive] monster.’”
Barnes' praise for Kobe might have been a surprise for many. A clip of Barnes when he was still with the Orlando Magic shows him faking a pass towards Bryant's face. It has made rounds online throughout the years, displaying the animosity between the two.
Per Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Barnes said of the heated play:
“I didn’t realize how close the ball was to his face. But it’s crazy he didn’t move at all,”
It's good to know that no hard feelings exist between the two players. They are simply natural competitors yet once they hang up their jerseys, they are humans who thrive in good relationships and friendships.
