Former Warriors Star Reveals How Dirk Nowitzki Put an End to His One Big NBA Dream Despite Kobe Bryant’s Support

Joe Smith never turned into the superstar he was expected to be after being selected first overall in the 1995 NBA Draft, but the journeyman forward still managed to have a productive NBA career. Smith played with 12 teams across 16 NBA seasons, hooping alongside the likes of Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant for short stints.

Though Smith played with a number of future Hall of Famers, an NBA championship eluded him. Arguably his best — and last —shot at a ring came during his final season, when he joined Kobe Bryant’s Lakers at 35 years of age.

Unfortunately for Joe Smith, the Dallas Mavericks had other plans for the 2010-11 postseason. Despite entering the playoffs in the hopes of completing the league’s first three-peat in a decade, LA was crushed by Dallas in a four-game sweep. Dirk Nowitzki made it clear that he would not be denied his only championship.

The German forward had standout games against the Lakers, top-scoring for the Lakers in the first three games of the Western Conference semi-finals. Nowitzki would carry that form into the Championships, and be named Finals MVP, the first German to be so honored.

“I thought we had a shot my last year, man. I thought we had a pretty good shot. We had a good squad with Kobe, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum,” Smith shared on Eighty or Eighty Thousand. “I thought we had a shot that year, but yeah, we got knocked out. Dallas swept us.”

Joe Smith once praised Kobe’s hunger

Despite not winning a championship, the former forward appreciated his time in Los Angeles. Not only was he treated as a celebrity in the city despite only playing two months with the team, but he also appreciated the time he got to spend with Bryant.

Joe Smith teamed up with at least a half-dozen superstars throughout his time in the association, and he explained what separated Kobe from the rest of those legends. Considering what many others have said about the Mamba, Smith’s response may not come as too much of a surprise.

“I think [Kobe] had a different hunger,” Smith said on Vlad TV. “I mean, we all see it. We all can, you know, kind of tell. I played with Kevin Garnett, I played with Kevin Durant, I played with LeBron twice, I played with AI, and [Kobe’s] hunger was different. I can’t put my finger on what it was, but his will not to lose was different.”

Smith is just one of many former teammates of Bryant to discuss his insatiable drive to win. That hunger led to five NBA championships, an MVP award, and millions of adoring fans. So, in the end, approaching his basketball career with his trademarked “Mamba Mentality” proved to be the best decision for Kobe throughout his legendary 20-year career.