The late, great Kobe Bryant wasn’t one to tolerate trash talk. Every time someone challenged him, his inner Mamba kicked in—and more often than not, they ended up regretting it. Most of the time, it was NBA players on the receiving end. Too many to count. But once, even UGK’s Bun B found himself humbled by the legendary guard.
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During a recent appearance on The Young Man and The Three, the rap legend recalled his interaction with Bryant. It was his own “Spike Lee Moment” and it came at the worst possible time.
Bun B talked trash to Kobe Bryant during a playoff game between the Rockets and Lakers. And just like Lee famously did with Reggie Miller back in 1994, Bun’s words sparked a storm he couldn’t contain.
Bun B’s beloved Rockets were off to a great start. They had a 10-point lead, and Kobe was struggling early in the game. That’s when Bun, sitting courtside, decided to have some fun and started jawing at Bryant. In hindsight? A terrible idea.
It didn’t take long for Kobe to respond, and he made sure Bun B knew he brought that on his team. He said, “At one point, I said something and he looked at me. He looked right at me, and that man hit three 3-pointers, right in front of me. Like, purposely coming to the spot in front of me, hitting it.”
Kobe did the famous shrug after hitting the shots and made Bun B regret going after him in the first place. As per Bun B, Kobe wasn’t just beating the Rockets anymore; he was making it personal. Every three felt like a dagger aimed directly at him. And that shrug said it all.
Bun B believes he “put the battery in that man’s back.” Kobe thrived under pressure like no other—and he lived for great competition. So, even if the spark came from the rap legend, it was all Kobe needed to take over the game. Bun B later joked that the Rockets might’ve had a chance if he’d just kept quiet. But once Kobe got going, there was no stopping him. He didn’t just beat the team—he beat Bun B, too.
Miller had similarly ‘beaten’ Lee back in 1994. The diehard New York Knicks fan couldn’t help but taunt the Indiana legend, and Miller responded by dropping 25 points in the fourth quarter to shut him up.
Perhaps Bun B should’ve read the history books—and when it comes to Bryant, studied them even more closely.
Allen Iverson once famously recalled Kobe telling him, “They shook the tree and the Mamba fell out,” after one of AI’s teammates trash-talked Kobe—and he responded by dropping 49 points on them. If only Bun B had heard stories like that, he might’ve just sat back and celebrated his team’s early lead instead of provoking the Lakers legend.
