Kobe's Trash Talk Was Venom
Kobe didn’t say things to say things. He always had a purpose and his words were used to destroy his opponent’s morale.
Kobe Bryant was cerebral.
We all know this. The guy’s nickname is “The Black Mamba” for God’s sake.
But what we don’t know is how cerebral he was. And to truly know that, we have to get a first-hand account.
Thus, here’s a story of how Kobe shut down Iman Shumpert.
A few years ago, Sumpert appeared on Hot 97 and told Peter Rosenberg a fantastic story about an encounter with Kobe.
Shumpert and the New York Knicks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers in this matchup.
After three quarters, the New York defensive specialist was feeling good about himself. He was doing a stand-up job against the Lakers’ superstar. He even snatched the ball from him a couple of times.
So, Shumpert celebrated in his mind.
But Kobe must have caught a whiff of this joy or something because what he did at the beginning of the fourth quarter was not cool.
He told Shupert he “had a great game.”
Shumpert recalls looking at the clock and thinking they still had an entire quarter to play. He was puzzled.
And this must’ve weighed on his mind for the entire twelve minutes because Kobe went off and he couldn’t do a single thing to slow down.
”I’ve been talking sh-t, I stole the ball, I’m hyped as hell -he’s Kobe Bryant. He had said not thing to me [until he said] ‘Great game, young fella.’ You know, locked in. The man came down, you remember, he came down, shot fake, threw it off the glass, caught it, threw it to the corner. I’m like, ‘Bro, what chu on? Bro, you been regular all game.’”
Shumpert couldn’t remember the exact game but he and Rosenberg speculate it was a game on Feb. 10, 2012.
Kobe had 34 points that game and scored 14 of those in the fourth quarter.
However, despite getting snatched in the jugular by the Black Mamba, Shumpert and the Knicks pulled through and won the game 92-85.
Kobe was a vicious dude.
Quote Of The Week
“Have a good time. Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged. You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile and just keep on rolling.”
-Kobe Bryant
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