Kobe Bryant has often been criticized for being a ‘ball hog’ despite his great career in the NBA. Long before Bryant even set foot in the NBA, he displayed traits of being selfish on the court. God Shammgod, a former professional basketball player, was irked after he witnessed a young Kobe copy all of Michael Jordan’s mannerisms. Despite Shammgod being pissed at Bryant for taking all of the shots in their initial meeting, the two athletes ended up forming a strong 25-year-long bond.
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Kobe Bryant was among the many aspiring hoopers who grew up idolizing Michael Jordan. Over the course of Bryant’s career, he managed to replicate several of MJ’s traits. Apart from having the same, somewhat maniacal drive to be a winner, the Black Mamba had a similar-looking style of play to the Chicago Bulls legend as well. In fact, a young Kobe’s mannerisms made God Shammgod think he was a ‘Jordan wannabe’ when he first met him.
Kobe Bryant’s antics irked a young God Shammgod
God Shammgod made an appearance on the Knuckleheads Podcast a while ago. During the conversation, the former NBA pro narrated a Kobe Bryant tale. The current player development coach of the Dallas Mavericks spoke about how his first interaction with the youngster was during a pick-up game. In the game, Bryant was taking all the shots, not allowing Shammgod to make any attempts.
“Kobe was on our team and he walking like Jordan, chewing gum like Jordan, doing all that… So we like ‘Man, who this dude think he [Michael] Jordan?’ So we played – now mind you, this is supposed to be my year. This man is taking all the shots,” Shammgod narrated.
Being frustrated with Kobe, Shammgod purposely told Joe Bryant to bring his son in for a workout at 5:00 AM in the morning. The streetball legend came in at 6:00 AM. To his surprise, the Mamba was already covered in sweat. Learning about Bryant’s dedication to the sport, the two formed an extremely solid 25-year bond.
“That right there just grew into a 25-year friendship until, like his[Kobe’s] untimely demise, where like six months before that I was working out with his daughter. He entrusted me like 25 years later with his daughter.”
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Kobe always wanted his daughter to play at the highest level. Trusting Shammgod to train Gianna displays the strength of their relationship.
Even though dribbling wasn’t his best suit, Kobe dropped 63 points as a kid
As Shammgod mentioned, dribbling wasn’t Bryant’s strongest skill set. However, an 8-year-old Kobe figured out that other players of his own age were also not as good at dribbling the rock.
Putting his detective skills to the test, Bryant soon realized that his competitors couldn’t dribble with their left hands. Ultimately, Kobe went on to record 63 points… as an 8-year-old.
“It was something very simple that I figured out at 8 years old is that other 8-year-olds can’t dribble with their left hand…So, when I was guarding the ball…I’ll always just let them have a couple of dribbles with the right hand and jump on their right hand and make them change over to their left. And they would bobble the ball, fumble the ball-I would pick it up, go lay it up,” said Bryant.
Clearly, the Mamba has been a true student of the game ever since he picked up the ball.
