Kobe Bryant Explains Lakers GM Rob Pelinka's Heath Ledger Dinner Story
Bryant once had dinner with Heath Ledger after the Lakers star watched The Dark Knight, according to Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, who revealed this to the team in a May article on ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes.
As many pointed out, Ledger died in January 2008, before The Dark Knight hit theaters.
Bryant gave an account of what truly happened on the Knuckleheads podcast hosted by Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles.
Bryant said, “I didn't go out to dinner in New York. I stayed in my room. This is actually the story Rob told, that he got confused about, the Heath Ledger stuff. Because I stayed up watching Batman, and watching Heath Ledger.”
“And then I went and started researching about Heath Ledger, and how he got into character and how he just became all-consuming. That inspired me to go into my Garden mode.”
“When I go in there I don't want to say hi to the gen—I don't want say hi to these people—I don't wanna talk to nobody. Everybody leave me alone."
When Pelinka told the anecdote, Dwayne Johnson was getting ready to talk to the Lakers players. He claimed that Ledger's portrayal of The Joker had left Bryant so speechless that Bryant had specifically asked about Ledger's preparation for the role.
For the most part, fans had forgotten the whole thing. It became merely a footnote in a busy Lakers offseason that included Magic Johnson throwing Pelinka under the bus and the acquisition of Anthony Davis.