WNBA legend Candace Parker sat down on the Taylor Rooks podcast around 2 years ago. Speaking about her experience working alongside the likes of Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, and Diana Taurasi at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Las Vegas Aces’ superstar had a hilarious story. The group was playing the card game Booray. While initially, Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant were staring at each other, Kidd left his seat for a few minutes. The clip was shared on YouTube by Chrianna Ville.
Advertisement
During this time, it was Diana Taurasi who stepped in for Kidd. However, things did not go to plan for her. “In London, Boo-Ray was like huge…But I remember Jason Kidd let Diana play for him one time like he got up to go somewhere…Kobe was just egging Diana on…Like ‘you lost all of his money,’ This had to be Bejieng, like all of his money,” she said, claiming that Diana had lost all of Jason Kidd’s money within a few minutes. That was majorly down to how much Kobe Bryant egged her on.
Parker revealed that she was simply sitting and watching exactly how much Kobe stirred the pot in order to trick Taurasi. It ended up working, as Bryant won a huge amount, with Candace Parker refusing to reveal the exact figure.
“I am breaking the code if I say how much. I am breaking the code. I am just going to say over. It was over,” she said.
Of course, because she uttered ‘over’ even without allowing Taylor Rooks to come up with a figure, one can assume that Jason Kidd ended up losing huge money. That was hardly her fault. Considering Kobe’s will to win and how he doesn’t normally let people get the upper hand, Bryant can be expected to have tried a range of tricks to trick Diana.
Kobe Bryant and Diana Taurasi were special friends
It has always been evident that Kobe had a special bond with Diana Taurasi. He often showed up to her games, was in attendance when she became the WNBA’s top scorer, and was often seen supporting her, during interviews and otherwise.
One of the greatest female players of all time, Taurasi grew up idolizing Kobe and would watch every match that he played, according to Sports Illustrated. Taurasi was one of the millions who were left heartbroken after Bryant’s tragic helicopter clash in 2016 and spoke at her memorial in detail.
“Every timeout, every commercial, I’d run to the front yard to imitate my favorite Laker, Kobe. He made it okay to play with an edge that borderlined crazy,” she had said, revealing the kind of influence Kobe had on her right from the beginning.
Kobe, in this way, was not only an inspiration but also a close friend of Diana Taurasi’s. After initially imitating Bryant for years, she eventually became close friends with Kobe and cherished her relationship with the LA Lakers legend.
