After Shaquille O’Neal left the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004, their lack of wins frustrated Kobe Bryant. In the 2006 playoffs, his disgruntled attitude was palpable during Game 7 of the Lakers’ first-round series against the Phoenix Suns. After a 50-point effort in Game 6, the Mamba reduced his shot attempts from 35 to 16, while attempting merely one shot in the second half. He wanted to prove that he takes a ton of shots during games solely because the squad lacks high-quality offensive players. However, Charles Barkley’s comments about Kobe’s performance in that game didn’t sit well with the latter.
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By not shooting in that game, Kobe wanted to prove a point. However, a disappointed Charles Barkley disapproved of his attitude following the Lakers’ Game 7 loss by 31 points. During a post-game Inside the NBA segment, Barkley declared that MJ would never quit on his team like Bryant did against the Suns. As you might have guessed, these comments really enraged the Lakers superstar.
Kobe didn’t appreciate Barkley blasting him on national television. He sent several texts to the outspoken NBA analyst that night, most of which were laced with profanities and NSFW terms. During his recent sit-down with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay, Charles Barkley talked about the time he and Kobe exchanged heated texts after that infamous Game 7.
The 1993 MVP had mentioned in his criticism of Kobe how MJ had rolled out an all-time playoff high 63-point performance in 1986 against the dominant Boston Celtics. MJ showed up to work instead of quitting on his team despite repeatedly drawing the dominant Larry Bird and Co. in the first round.
“At that time, they were comparing him to Michael [Jordan]. I said Michael when he was playing against the Celtics, he was like, ‘I gotta get 60-something, I won’t get it but whatever.’ He’s not gonna pout. Kobe starts texting me, ‘You motherfu**er, you motherfu**er…’ I said, ‘Yo man, I am doing my job’, ‘You’re such a f_ a**h*le’ [Kobe replied]. We go back and forth for like two hours,” Charles Barkley told Shannon Sharpe.
Barkley further revealed that the back-and-forth transpired at 1 in the morning. Kobe refused to call him and kept on hurling profanities at him via texts. However, the two eventually ended up making peace. And the incident even became a story both of them used to laugh about in the future.
Kobe Bryant wanted a trade from the Lakers
Bryant spent all his 20 years in the NBA with the Lakers and that’s why his name is often invoked as one of the most “loyal” franchise players in league history. However, after repeated regular season and playoff failures, the Mamba wanted out at one point of his career. As a 3x NBA champion at the time, he couldn’t stomach being in mediocre squads that couldn’t compete for a title.
In May 2007, the Mamba made it clear that he was not interested in wearing a Purple and Gold jersey anymore. During an appearance on ESPN 1050 Radio, the disgruntled guard told Stephen A. Smith about his intentions to change his franchise. “I would like to be traded, yeah. Tough as it is to come to that conclusion, there’s no other alternative, you know?“
This trade request worked in favor of both Bryant and the LA Lakers. In the summer of 2007, the Lakers signed Pau Gasol to get Kobe some much-needed help. The one-two punch of Gasol and Kobe proved to be the recipe for success. It culminated in three straight finals appearances and two rings.
