NBA Hall-of-Famer Karl Malone ruined his friendship with Kobe Bryant by hitting on his wife Vanessa Bryant and then challenged him to a fight over the issue a decade later.
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When it comes to discussion of the best power forwards to ever play the game, the first names that usually come up are Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett. You very rarely see Karl Malone in the mix, despite ending with the second-most points in NBA history, before recently being passed by LeBron James.
One of the reasons why is because he doesn’t nearly have the accolades, more specifically, the championships. However, it was not for a lack of trying. Malone spent most of his prime losing to Michael Jordan. So, in a final attempt to win a ring, he joined the LA Lakers in 2004, alongside Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
Entering that season, they were the favorites to win the chip. But they fell to the Detroit Pistons in the Finals, leaving Malone ringless. However, all the problems with the team started when there was trouble in the locker room, especially between Kobe and Malone. So, what exactly happened? Read on to find out…
Kobe Bryant ‘upset’ with Karl Malone over comments made on his wife Vanessa Bryant.
According to ESPN, Malone attended a Lakers game in November 2004. There, he apparently made “several inappropriate comments towards Vanessa Bryant, Kobe’s wife. Supposedly, Vanessa asked Malone, who was wearing a cowboy hat and boots, “Hey, cowboy, what are you hunting?”
The forward responded, “I’m hunting for little Mexican girls.” Furthermore, the Jazz big man asked Vanessa to “sit next to [him] and give [him] a big hug” and wondered if she “liked him.
According to Kobe’s agent, Rob Pelinka explains what happened on the day, He goes on to say –
“From there Malone asked Vanessa if she could keep a secret, and that he would like to tell her something. At which point Vanessa told him she was a married woman and he was a married man who was old enough to be her father. To which Malone replied, ‘Oh, like your daddy?’ At that point, she told me she ended the conversation. After the game ended, on the way home from the area, Vanessa told Kobe what happened.”
Kobe even gave his thoughts on the incident at a post-game presser. He goes on to say –
“The comments that [Malone] said, I don’t know any man in this room that wouldn’t be upset about that. “What he said is what he said. I believe in my heart that it wasn’t a misunderstanding. My wife wasn’t going to stand for it. She felt uncomfortable being around him to the point that she felt she had to call his wife and tell her.”
Forever my favorite Kobe Bryant interview: Kobe talking to Jack Haley about Karl Malone making a pass at Kobe’s wife. #Ko8be24 pic.twitter.com/zj4XAYcLDH
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) December 19, 2017
Bryant said Malone didn’t deny making the comments and told him during their phone conversation –
“Aw, you know, I’m sorry if I said anything that was out of line. He was like a mentor, like a brother to me, so when something like that happens, you’re upset, you’re hurt.”
Wow! The cheek of the man. After all, this is a man who has had rape allegations against him. While he was unstoppable on the court, he was a b****rd off it, and it was shown once again…10 years later.
The Mailman wants to fight Kobe Bryant a decade after their ‘beef’.
While Karl Malone did say at the time that he didn’t mean any harm with his comments on Vanessa, and even apologized for the same. However, 10 years later, his attitude towards the incident took a complete 360 and the 2x MVP wanted to square up against Kobe. He goes on to say –
“You have the problem, I don’t. I love Westerns. I’m old-school Western.” Back in the day when you had a beef, you didn’t go get guns and knives. You just, ‘Hey Marc, 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.’’ Check out the full video here:
When asked if he had told Kobe that he was up for a fight, Malone admitted that he hadn’t. “No, but it’s standing, it’s a standing [offer].’’
To date, there’s no evidence to say if they did bury their beef, from what we know of Malone as a person, it seems highly unlikely. While he was respected for his performances, he was despised by everyone for his actions off it…and this incident just proves why.
