“Kobe Bryant studied me by watching sharks hunt seals”: Allen Iverson revealed that the Lakers legend tore up a hotel room in search of answers to guard the Sixers superstar

Allen Iverson released an anecdote that claimed Kobe Bryant studied the way sharks hunted seals in order learn to how to guard Iverson. 

There isn’t enough time in a day to talk about all the times Kobe Bryant might have taken his competitiveness a bit too far. Whether it was berating his younger teammates during Lakers practices in the mid 2010s or making sure to bicycle during the hottest part of the day for miles on end, the ‘Black Mamba’ was never one to take a day off from being himself. 

Tim Grover, trainer to both Kobe and Michael Jordan, is quoted as saying the latter knew how to push his own limits but stop when need be. The former on the other hand, simply did not know when to stop and even if he felt as though he should, he wouldn’t.

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What’s incredible is that Kobe Bryant has been this way ever since his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers as stories have surfaced over the years, talking about his late nights and early mornings in the gym. 

Kobe Bryant studied Allen Iverson in a peculiar way, according to Iverson. 

Bryant’s passing in early 2020 led to several legends who’ve squared off against him to re-tell stories of their battles against on another from years past. Allen Iverson followed suited as he wrote an open letter directed to the Lakers icon in ‘The Player’s Tribune’. An excerpt from that read as follows: 

“I remember hearing the story that you were on the road and you were watching the highlights of me dropping 35 on the Knicks at the Garden our rookie year and you got so mad, you smashed up the hotel room. You started researching me like you were in the CIA- ‘Get me the file on AI!’- I bet it was like that. Studying how white sharks hunt down seals in the Pacific Ocean and whatnot.”

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Unsurprisingly, Allen Iverson would go on to call Kobe Bryant the fiercest competitor he ever faced off against. The two met merely once in the postseason and that was during the 2000 NBA Finals, a series that the Lakers won in 5 after the Sixers bested them in Game 1 with AI dropped 48 on them.