Lewis Hamilton once turned to 5x NBA champion Kobe Bryant to thrash his haters

Lewis Hamilton rose to glory in F1, breaking records and making some of his own and it is no mystery that success of that sort brings haters.

While Hamilton has himself been quite outspoken about it, at times he has turned to other sporting legends for inspiration and also to use their shoulder to take a subtle dig at those critics.

In one such incident, back in 2020, the 7-time world champion shared a photo of 5x NBA champion Kobe Bryant on his Instagram story with a quote.

The iconic quote by Bryant read, “Haters are a good problem to have. Nobody hates the good ones. They hate the great ones.”

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‘Kobe Bryant was one of our greats’ – Lewis Hamilton

The Mercedes star adores Bryant for his talents and for the inspiration that the basketball player was to himself and many across the world.

In a tragic helicopter crash in January 2020, Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were killed with seven other passengers.

As the world mourned the death of the LA Lakers’ star, so did Hamilton. The 7-time world champion posted a heartfelt tribute to Bryant and said, “I’m so sad to hear that we lost one of our greats.”

I’m sad to hear that we lost one of our greats. @kobebryant was one of the greatest athletes and was such an inspiration to so many including myself. I’m deeply saddened for his family and for the people around the world who looked up to him. May he and his daughter rest in peace pic.twitter.com/O4ZWANcGKm

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) January 26, 2020

Lewis Hamilton hit with criticism after reckless driving in Japan

From his time in Japan earlier this year, Hamilton recently shared a video on his Instagram which showed him driving Nissan R34 GTR recklessly.

The Brit was seen spinning and drifting the rental car and exceeding the speed limit on the streets of Tokyo considerably.

The video received mixed emotions on the internet from fans but the car rental company was not happy at all.

On Twitter, the company responded to the video and said, “This is a car from Omoshiro rental, but this video was not taken without permission. This manner of driving is strictly forbidden.”

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