“Don’t You Ever Elbow Me Again Kobe Bryant”: Metta Sandiford-Artest On His Scuffle With The Lakers Legend

Kobe Bryant has had quite the assortment of teammates over the course of a 20 year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the way he eventually recruited Metta Sandiford-Artest was perhaps the most unique as the history between the two would suggest that they wouldn’t gel as teammates in the slightest. 

It’s very clear from looking at the way they conduct themselves on NBA hardwood together they’re cut from a similar ‘maniacal’ cloth. Not the same as Kobe was a far superior player than Artest; just that they’re mindsets were close to one another’s as they were both incredibly passionate about winning and laid it all out on the line each and every game. 

Artest of course, was much more emotive than ‘The Black Mamba’. This would eventually lead to quite the face-off between them on the biggest stage in the NBA.

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Metta Sandiford-Artest on Kobe Bryant elbowing him 

Metta Sandiford-Artest, being the defensive savant that he was, was tasked with guarding none other than Kobe Bryant during the 2009 Western Conference SemiFinals between the Lakers and the Rockets. As expected, things got quite chippy own the stretch between the two. 

Kobe, knowing how to hide certain fouls from the refs, elbowed Artest near the throat while battling for a rebound at an angle that couldn’t be seen by the on-floor officials. He wasn’t called for a foul and naturally, Metta was upset. He picked up two quick technicals and was thrown out of the game. 

Prior to being ejected, he approached Bryant face-to-face to confront him about the elbow but Brynt raised his hands up to avoid any further instigation. While on ‘All The Smoke’, Metta shared his side of the story from his vantage point, claiming he told the Lakers guard to not to ever do that again.

Of course, as history would dictate it, they would eventually become teammates the very next season. Kobe’s philosophy of wanting to be teammates with anybody ‘crazy enough to f**k with him’ panned out in the end as Metta would hit one of the biggest shots in Finals history in Game 7 to clinch Bryant’s 5th title.

Also read: “I’m Going to Work! Kobe!”: Joel Embiid Embraced the Mamba Mentality as Teenager to Become Great at Basketball