Not many defenders could guard Kobe Bryant, instead, they would have no option but to foul the Black Mamba.
Advertisement
Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest athletes the sporting world has seen. The Black Mamba had a crazy obsession with being the best version of himself, and this dedicated him to being regarded as the GOAT.
The sheer competitive spirit helps him set himself apart from the rest of the superstars. At the conclusion of his illustrious career, Kobe retired with 18 All-Star appearances, 15 All-NBA selections, 12 All-Defensive selections, 5 possessed and his fixation to be the best at any given point is what championships, 2 Finals MVPs and even an MVP.
Also Read: $600 million rich Kobe Bryant always reserved seats for a ‘special friend’ on all his fancy dinners
Bryant was an assassin on the court. Having one of the deepest offensive arsenals, defenders feared going up against the Lakers legend. Even the most elite defenders had a difficult time guarding the 6-foot-6 guard, thus they would resort to fouling him in order to prevent him from going on a scoring outburst.
“I can’t give up layups because I lose money”: Dahntay Jones on pushing Kobe Bryant
Not all fans would know who Dahntay Jones was. The 6-foot-6 swingman had no All-Star appearances, no All-NBA appearance, and not even All-Defensive appearances, but still was a living nightmare for the most prolific scorers on the defensive end.
Now, Jones was a menace on the court. The 2016 NBA champ was one of the many players to foul Kobe in order as a defensive technique.
Here is a video of him explaining why he would do so in order to add to his $10 million worth:
“I pushed him in the back, right? And our rules was like no dunks and no layups. So I thought I was doing the right thing. I swear, I thought I was doing the right thing because he beat me for the first kind of time, like when I see the back of his jersey. I got two options: Take his head off because he can’t see me or push him before he even jumps, so I just push him in the back and he never gets in the air.
And he felt like he disrespected, but I can’t give up layups because I lose money. I get fully disrespected in timeouts like they had me so wound up. Chauncey, Kenyan, George had me so wound up and so frustrated.”
All these anecdotes prove just how lethal and unguardable Bryant was.
Also Read: $600M Kobe Bryant learned another language just to curse at Tony Parker
