Basketball

“I’d Be Willing to Sacrifice My Offense for it!”: Kobe Bryant Once Shockingly Prioritized ‘Defense’ Over Offense

Tonoy Sengupta
|PublishedDec 04, 2022

"I'd Be Willing to Sacrifice My Offense for it!": Kobe Bryant Once Shockingly Prioritized 'Defense' Over Offense

Apr 10, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) in action during the game between the Rockets and the Lakers at the Toyota Center. Bryant plays in the last road game and second to last game of his NBA career. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Kobe Bryant was a great, great player overall. But more than anything else, he was one of the greatest scorers in the history of the NBA. And frankly, with all the scorers there are in the NBA right now, he doesn’t often get the credit he deserves.

The man was unimaginably clutch, unfazed by how big the moment was. Instead, all he could think about was his hunger to make a big shot. And boy did he make a lot of them.

But, while his main forte within the NBA was scoring the ball, it appears that it wasn’t his favorite activity within the sport.

In fact, he once admitted he wouldn’t hesitate to give up scoring even a single point on a basketball court if he got to do this one action in exchange for it.

Also Read: Luka Doncic is Reminiscent of 2019 James Harden, as Mavericks Make Shot Selection History

Kobe Bryant wanted to play high-level defense more than anything else, even scoring

Yes, you read that right.

Kobe Bryant may have been the biggest scoring threat on the floor on any given night. But, apparently, defense is what he liked to play the most.

Why? Well, take a look at the YouTube clip below to watch him explain it all himself.

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Frankly, this did come as a little bit of a surprise… at first, at least.

But then, when you think about it, isn’t the demand to lock down an elite scorer a very Black Mamba-Esque thing too?

In every sense of the word, this man was absolutely relentless.

As a defender, there was just one player that Kobe Bryant couldn’t figure out

Kobe Bryant had always been one of the smarter ones on the basketball court. And so, as you can probably imagine, he was one of the best defenders in the league during his time.

In fact, despite there being so many great players within the NBA, he could always figure them all out… except one man.

Take a look at him explaining everything in the YouTube clip below.

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Can’t blame him on that one. We’re not sure anyone has quite been able to figure Kevin Durant out to this day.

Also Read: “Shut Up, Dad!”: Kobe Bryant’s daughters Gianna and Natalia had a unique way of dealing with ‘Mamba’

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.