As time has gone on, the stories of the impact that Kobe Bryant had on NBA players who were lucky enough to ball alongside him get told. The Mamba’s tragic death in 2020 only made the stories grow more and more, each one a memory of the legend and father that is no longer here.
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Cuttino Mobley shared some wild stories about the deceased five-time champion during a recent appearance on All The Smoke. The now-retired 49-year-old star recalled a time when he would practice in the same gym with Bryant.
But once Kobe was done running team-based drills, he would leave the group to go do his own thing. “After a while, he would not work out with us. He would go into the other part, it was a smaller gym,” said Mobley, who would reveal seconds later how much crazier the story got.
“It was a little window. He would tape the window and lock the door so we couldn’t see what he was doing. By himself,” he said. It’s very on brand for the Mamba, whose competitive edge was matched by few players in history, but certainly not in basketball.
That said, Mobley recalled how Kobe wasn’t always shutting himself away. Oftentimes, he even encouraged the veteran, who played most of his years for the Houston Rockets. “He always encouraged me. ‘Yo kill. Be aggressive.’ He used to always tell me that,” said Mobley to ATS host Matt Barnes.
Mobley didn’t receive any special treatment from Kobe though. The two may have been friendly, but when their teams were preparing to play one another, that friendship went out the window. “I would notice when I was about to play him because we would stop talking that week. We wouldn’t talk for that week. Then after I finished playing him, then we went back to talking,” a smiling Cuttino recalled.
“I would ask him about the family, and it was very short. Oh I get it now. Fraternizing. We are not friends today,” he added, stating in a way that made him truly understand what it took, at least in Kobe’s mind, to win.
Kobe’s insane regimens didn’t discourage Mobley. If anything, it helped him become a better player, especially at both ends of the court. The famed shooting guard said this himself during an older interview on Paul George’s Podcast P.
I got this from Kobe and Aaron McKie, and Eddie Jones; they were all great defenders. You couldn’t play when we were younger if you couldn’t defend. They wouldn’t even pick you. So, it was instilled in me to compete, even if you were busting my a**, he stated.
Cuttino mentioned how having to guard Bryant, Melo, and other big names really helped his game grow. True students of the game know that the only way to get better is to test yourself against someone who is better. And because of that, Mobley had a very good NBA career that lasted a decade. Not everyone can say that.
It just goes to show you the effects of playing alongside greatness. Kobe was clearly not for everyone. Some even claimed him to be a sociopath. But for the ones who loved to play and had a burning desire to win, he was their God, and for good reason.
