Being a teammate to Kobe Bryant was a dream that only a few select NBA players got to experience. Shannon Brown was one of those guys. The now-retired star won two rings with the Black Mamba in 2009 and 2010 as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, an experience he remembers fondly. Brown opened up about playing alongside Bryant during an appearance on the Out The Mud podcast with Tony Allen.
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Kobe had a reputation that rubbed some people the wrong way. The five-time Champion wasn’t interested in just making friends on the court. He was interested in building his legacy. Brown recognized that aspect of Kobe early on, but rather than push back against it, he embraced it. “Every time you see Kobe he doing something to get better at basketball,” he stated. “Whether he watching film. Whether he in the training room getting his injuries worked on. Whether he lifting weights. Every time you see him he was basketball.”
Some guys wanted to turn off after practice was over. They were the first out the door when the final whistle blew. But Kobe knew that for him to accomplish the massive goals he wanted to achieve, it would take more. “He had something he wanted to accomplish. That’s why I admire him the most,” added Brown, whose tone clearly indicated that the Mamba meant a lot to him.
“Did he instill any empowerment to you when you played?” asked Allen. It didn’t take Brown long to fish for an answer. “He’d just tell me, ‘demolish whoever it is that’s in front of you.’ Say less. That’s all I need,” Brown responded with a laugh. It was then that Brown, now 39, shared how he learned the most from the now deceased NBA legend. By studying him on the court.
“I used to watch him. I sit back. I don’t talk much. I sit back and watch and I learn. Just to see how he was working and doing his thing,” recalled Brown. While the former shooting guard/forward wasn’t known for his scoring prowess the same way Kobe was, there were things he would take from the Mamba’s game. “I like how he do that. I’d impliment that into my game. I kind of had that but that would take it to another level,” he said.
Brown would depart from the Purple and Gold shortly before the 2011 NBA lockout. He would get signed to the Phoenix Suns the following season, then jumped around to a few teams before hanging up his boots in 2018. Yet those couple of seasons under Bryant’s tutelage gave Brown something he’ll remember forever. Not the championship rings. But the wisdom that comes from one of basketball’s all-time greatest minds.
