Kobe Bryant has been the embodiment of excellence and hard work. It was never a secret that Kobe was trying to be the best from the day he stepped foot on an NBA floor. Back in 2020, Kobe’s ex-teammate and Lakers guard, Nick Van Excel, was a guest on The Knuckleheads Podcast, where he talked about playing with and being around a young Kobe. When asked to share a few Kobe Bryant moments, Nick quickly went to one of his favorite stories of the Mamba. The story was a recollection of Kobe’s 1997 preseason dunk on Ben Wallace.
Advertisement
Ben Wallace, who would win a Championship against Kobe and the Lakers, was one of Kobe’s first victims. The incident in question happened during a 1997 pre-season game between The Lakers and The Detroit Pistons. Kobe told everyone in the huddle, that he was going to “dunk on him”. In the following play, Kobe did just that. The 19-year-old Kobe crossed up a player and took off a few steps after, putting Ben Wallace on a nasty poster.
Nick Van Exel shares a story featuring 19 Year Old Kobe Bryant
Nick Van Excel was one of the premiere guards in the NBA when Kobe was drafted. The duo often played one-on-one, with Axel often getting the better of a rookie Kobe. Excel, who was a guest on the Knuckleheads podcast 3 years ago, even shared an exciting story about Kobe.
Nick talking about the 1997 pre-season incident, said, ” That’s another thing, Kobe told us coming out of the timeout. Dale drew up a play for the game, I sat at the top of the key, and Kobe told us I’m about to cross this fool up and dunk on him. That was his exact words leaving the huddle, I’m about to cross this fool up and dunk on him.”.
The surprising thing about the incident was that Kobe would end up doing just that. Ben Wallace, on that play, was trying to take charge from Kobe. But unfortunately for Ben, he was already standing in the no-charge zone, under the basketball.
The reaction of the bench said it all, as the players on the bench didn’t expect Kobe to pull off such a nasty dunk on possibly one of the greatest rim protectors the league has ever seen.
Ben Wallace gets the last laugh as the Pistons pull off an upset in 2004
Ben Wallace would go on to become the only undrafted player to ever make the Hall Of Fame. But it was the pre-season dunk in Las Vegas that set in motion Ben’s illustrious career in the NBA. Ben recalling the incident, was quoted saying “Without that dunk, I don’t know if I’m the player that I am today. After that, I told myself ‘Ben, that’s never gonna happen again’. And you know what? It didn’t“.
But Ben would also get his shot to fire back at Kobe, as he led The Detroit Pistons past the Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2004 NBA Championship. The Detroit Pistons pulled off what many call one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
