In 1996, the NBA saw two of the greatest players of all time enter the league. Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant were drafted with the first and thirteenth pick in the Draft respectively. The two were incredible on the court and often went toe-to-toe when facing each other. This led to AI developing a certain level of respect for the Black Mamba. But, the Mamba was a player who kept on improving each year.
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Speaking with soccer legend Thierry Henry in an interview with NBA Europe, The Answer delved into his time in the NBA. He had plenty of clashes with Kobe. And, perhaps his most memorable one was back when he was on the 76ers, taking on Bryant’s Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals. However, one game during his time with the Denver Nuggets confirmed to AI that Kobe was not one to mess with.
Allen Iverson recalls how the Nuggets’ trash talk unleashed the inner Mamba in Kobe Bryant
It’s quite well known that Kobe Bryant wasn’t a big fan of the Denver Nuggets. And, it was his tumultuous relationship with George Karl that caused this. Kobe had once been benched by Karl during the 1998 All-Star Game. Something that did not sit well with him.
So, whenever he faced the Nuggets, Bryant was unstoppable. And, things only got worse when Nuggets players started talking trash to him. As Hall of Famer Allen Iverson recalled, he once witnessed both JR Smith and Kenyon Martin’s release Kobe’s inner Mamba.
From 2006 to 2008, Allen Iverson was “The Answer” to the Denver Nuggets’ woes. He was absolutely phenomenal and helped propel the Nuggets to much success. However, when it came to facing Kobe, Bubba Chuck ironically had no answer for The Black Mamba. And, in an interview with soccer legend Thierry Henry, Iverson shared how Bryant wasn’t a player to be messed with.
“You could see how certain things could trigger him. Almost everything, even the smallest thing. So imagine something colossal, like someone talking trash to him. And, I remember JR and Kenyon Martin getting into it with him. It was all bad. He started going crazy… I think he had 49 on us. He started putting… he was dunking and hitting threes… just doing anything. We could not stop him. The game was already decided. And, somebody was shooting free throws at the free throw line and we was in the backcourt, and he was like, ‘Chuck they shook the tree…and the Mamba fell out!’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god! This dude right here is an assassin!'”
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Kobe truly was in a class of his own. And, whether it was the Nuggets or any other team, Bryant’s competitiveness pushed him to always go for the win. He would even study his opponents attentively. And, was once likened Kobe to a Great White Shark who hunted him down like a seal.
Allen Iverson once wrote an open letter to Bryant likening him to a Great White Shark
Following his passing in 2020, many of Kobe Bryant’s opponents started to recall stories of his greatness. And, in an open letter on The Player’s Tribune, Allen Iverson shared a story of how The Black Mamba once got annoyed with one of his performances during their rookie year.
He commented on Kobe’s obsession with being the best and believed Kobe studied him much like a Great White Shark studies a seal before hunting it.
Bryant truly was on another level altogether. His obsession to be the best propelled him to go above and beyond normal expectations. A true mark of his greatness.
