Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone played with one another for a single season on the Los Angeles Lakers and yet it was enough the two to have quite a bit of drama ensue between them. Kobe had already won 3 titles with the purple and gold alongside Shaq but after they had lost to the Spurs in the 2003 Playoffs, they would receive reinforcements.
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Malone, who had been on the Jazz for his whole career, made his way to the Lakers. Despite the fact that they would make it to the NBA Finals (only to lose to the Pistons in 5 games), it’s truly astonishing as to how a team with as low chemistry as them made it out of a competitive Western Conference.
To pile onto the problems that were brewing between Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal, the former would have to deal with Malone as well.
Vanessa Bryant would get told something uncomfortable by Karl Malone
Karl Malone, while with the Lakers, was once approached by Vanessa Bryant who asked him, “Hey cowboy, what are you hunting?” She asked him this because he had an affinity towards hunting and was wearing a cowboy hat and boots.
In response, Malone said something disturbing, saying, “I’m hunting for little Mexican girls.” This, as expected, made Vanessa very uncomfortable, especially given her heritage. Not to mention the troublesome past that Malone had in regards to the Gloria Bell situation.
Kobe Bryant would not appreciate this and they have not been on good terms since then. Malone has since addressed what had transpired and gave a detailed explanation on how he feels when it comes to what transpired between him and the 5x NBA champion.
“You have the problem, I don’t. I love Westerns. I’m old-school Western. Back in the day when you had beef, you didn’t go get guns and knives. You just go, ‘Hey Mark, I got a problem.’ We just go in the back with no cameras, no nothing, and let’s just knuckle up and get it over with,” said Karl.
Of course, the follow-up here was whether he had ever offered to ‘knuckle up’ with Bryant, to which Malone replied with, “No, but it’s standing. It’s a standing [offer].”
