Kobe Bryant was notoriously private throughout his career, and that privacy extended to every aspect of his persona. From news about his injuries to his shoe deals, Kobe played things close to the chest. Unfortunately, this caused quite a few problems for everyone’s favorite ESPN Insider, Adrian Wojnarowski, as he revealed on Carmelo Anthony’s podcast.
Advertisement
Woj, who left ESPN for a job at his alma mater a few months back, spoke about how Bryant’s infamous closed-off nature made reporting on him difficult. He recalled how Kobe would change his phone very often, and would always update people he was close to. However, one thing he wouldn’t do was reveal details of his injuries to reporters.
He remembered an incident from the 2013 season when Kobe tore his ACL during a game against the Warriors. Every big-time media company wanted the inside scoop on his recovery, but Kobe wouldn’t let anyone know about it till he was ready. The former insider said that Kobe messaged him personally, to let him know that he’d tell Woj when he was back because he didn’t like being pestered.
“Kobe would change his cell phone a lot. Sometimes he would email, and I remember 2013 he had torn his ACL, and he said to me, ‘I will let you know when you come back to practice.’ He just said, ‘You don’t have to hit me every day. I will tell you when I’m coming back.’ Kobe didn’t like to be pestered. And it was a Saturday morning and I just get an email, and it just says ‘First day.’ And I remember I hit somebody on the Lakers saying ‘Kobe just practiced?’ And they said ‘Yep.’ So I put it out.”
While Woj has broken some of the most era-defining trade announcements in the NBA, he revealed that he and Bryant spoke about the possibility of the legendary guard leaving the Lakers.
Kobe almost played in New York
Bryant’s love for the city of LA and the Lakers was well known, but Woj claimed that the 5x champ would often fantasize about New York. The Garden was high on Kobe’s favorite stadiums, and he once told the ESPN Insider that he felt he’d play for the Knicks at least once in his career. Woj revealed,
“It’s funny, Kobe always thought, he was convinced he’d end up with the Knicks. He loved the Lakers and he only ever wanted to be there. He would fantasize about the Garden.”
https://twitter.com/7PMinBrooklyn/status/1864731466913153197
Bryant’s desire to play at the Mecca of Basketball nearly robbed the Lakers faithful, but unfortunately for Knicks fans, that situation never happened.
