Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s iconic 81-point game against the Raptors, and Amazon’s NBA Nightcap crew took the opportunity to tell their favorite Kobe stories.
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Each one was a joy to hear, from Blake Griffin explaining how a simple tweet from Kobe raised his confidence to new levels, to Steve Nash explaining how Kobe’s airball attempt on a game-winner in the playoffs led to the Suns’ inevitable doom a game later.
Udonis Haslem shared how Kobe was the first player he’d gone against who’d ever wanted it more than him, but the best story of the night had to be the one told by Dirk Nowitzki.
Nowitzki’s story showed both sides of the legendary Laker; how he could be the best guy you’d ever want to meet when you were on his team, and how dearly he wanted to destroy you when you weren’t.
“One of these All-Star Games I was sitting next to him on the bench,” Dirk said, “and it was great just picking his brain and learning from him. And so I was like, ‘Oh man, I have this friendship going with Kobe.'”
Dirk and Kobe teamed up many times on the Western Conference All-Star team, but as a lifelong Mav and lifelong Laker, respectively, they were always competitors otherwise. Dirk found that out the hard way.
“A week or two weeks later we’re playing in Staples Center,” he recalled. “I go over, I give him a big hug, I’m standing there right next to him at the jump, and the jump goes up and he elbows me so hard in the ribs,” Nowitzki added. He might as well have laughed.
“I’m like, ‘What happened to our friendship?!’ He just wanted to set the tone, whatever happened two weeks ago is completely gone, now we’re enemies again. That was just his mindset. He was a killer. He was a perfect combo of skill, athleticism and killer instinct. I was just a big Kobe fan, and I’ve never made that a big secret,” the German legend added.
Although Kobe had the upper hand during that jump ball, Dirk could take solace in one important fact that he shared with the group. He only met Kobe one time in the playoffs, and his Mavs won the series.
Dirk averaged over 25 points per game in that 2011 Western Conference semifinal matchup, leading the Mavs to a sweep, and eventually, the NBA title a few weeks later.
