One of the only traits of Kobe Bryant that matched his fierce competitiveness was his ability to get inside your head. The Black Mamba wasn’t just a killer as a scorer. He could trash-talk you, run through you, or even discourage you to the point that you don’t even remember the type of player you are anymore. Tony Allen recalled something that the late Hall of Famer once did to him, and he hasn’t been able to forget about it since.
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The 2008 NBA Champion had Shannon Brown as a guest on the latest edition of his Out The Mud podcast, where both men spoke heavily about Kobe and his lasting effect on their careers. Brown, who won two rings alongside Bryant and the Lakers in 2009 and 2010, recalled how much he learned from the Mamba as a teammate. “Did Kobe ever extend you an offer to play 1-on-1?” asked Allen. “No,” responded Brown. “But I had to play against him every day in practice, though.”
The duo then started laughing, sharing quotes of some of the wild things Kobe would yell at them while on the court. At one point, Bryant yelled, “Shoot it. Shoot it. Shoot it,” while his back was turned at Brown, a disrespectful move that indicated he didn’t think his opponent would make the shot. Brown said he proudly made a few, but for Allen, it triggered some memories of instances on the court. Ones that he wishes he could forget.
“That’s the most discouraging sh** he used to do to me, bro,” said Allen as if he were reliving the memory. “I ain’t gonna even lie. When he said shoot it. I would be wide open in the corner, that man would just look, and then turn around and wait for me to shoot it.”
That Kobe was diabolical. This is the same guy who trucked through his lifelong best friend Pau Gasol, in the 2008 Olympics because they were on opposing teams, and yet his turning his back on someone is probably a harder hit to have to deal with. It’s understandable why Allen cannot seem to get that image out of his head, or why he, at least, wishes he could.
Fortunately for him, Allen does have some praise from the Mamba. He probably chooses to remember that more than the infamous back turn.
Kobe Bryant called Tony Allen the toughest defender he ever faced
“The Grindfather” earned his nickname by wearing offensive scorers down on the court. That included Bryant. In fact, Allen once revealed during an interview with Molly Morrison that the Mamba once referred to him as one of the all-time great defenders he ever faced.
“I actually got a picture of this, him hugging me and him telling me in my ear, ‘I appreciate our battles.’ And he was like, ‘You was the toughest defender that I ever faced, bro…Keep it up,’ he stated before adding how much it meant to him. I was just shocked, like, damn, he actually said something to me.”
That wouldn’t be the last time Kobe gave a shout-out to Allen, either. After his retirement tour, he gifted the former Celtics star a pair of signed Kobe’s that The Grindfather still has to this day. It’s one of those moments where if you could hang with Kobe, he respected you. It was the ones who didn’t leave it all out there that made the Mamba forget your name.
Neither Allen nor Brown was one of those guys. Their recollection of Kobe stories made them both smile. Almost as if they were sharing the moment with the man himself.
