MLB star Mookie Betts recently sat down for a conversation with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on All the Smoke. Halfway through the podcast, Betts recalled Barnes’ famous ball fake against the late, great Kobe Bryant, and wanted to know more about it. He urged the 44-year-old for a retelling of the story.
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Barnes has talked about that particular encounter with Kobe on numerous occasions as it has pretty much become part of NBA lore by now. But Betts wanted to know how Barnes felt about Kobe’s unflinching reaction.
“When you did like that [ball fake] and he didn’t move, that had to f**k you up,” Betts asked. Barnes said that even though that particular moment caught everyone’s attention, he wanted to fight Kobe throughout the game. He believes that Kobe was being “an a**hole” that day.
So, when the opportunity presented itself, Barnes tried to get back at the Mamba with the hard fake pass.
“It didn’t even cross my mind until after when I saw how close the ball was to his face, because I wanted to fight him. That’s where I was at. So, if I would’ve hit him [with the ball fake], I’d have been cool with it,” Barnes explained. Jackson added his thoughts on the incident, claiming that Kobe was probably shocked because NBA players usually don’t throw inbound passes in someone’s face.
So Jackson floated the theory that Kobe was probably taken aback by the unexpected act of Barnes, but he didn’t let it show on his face.
Barnes recalled talking to Kobe about the incident on their podcast and laughing about it. In fact, that moment was actually an incentive for Kobe to bring Barnes to LA. While a lot of people thought that there was some animosity between the two, the Mamba had said, “I wanted him because of what happened in Orlando.”
The following summer, Barnes joined the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant’s impact on Mookie Betts
Betts’ interest in knowing about the Kobe-Barnes story wasn’t out of nowhere. The three-time World Series champion has been a lifelong fan of the late Lakers legend and also had a cordial relationship with him. Betts once revealed that when he was struggling, he reached out to Kobe for advice.
He said, “I remember calling him and asking him, ‘How were you great all the time?’” Kobe told Betts that greatness isn’t just defined by how well an athlete can perform on the field.
He told the MLB star, “Make someone there remember you. No matter how good or bad you do, do something that makes someone there remember why you are Mookie Betts.”
There are countless stories about Kobe mentoring athletes from different disciplines. These stories only go on to show how important he was to the world of sports and beyond.
