Metta World Peace went from being one of Kobe Bryant’s biggest rivals on the court to win two titles with him, shooting a very important 3-pointer to help the Black Mamba win one of those titles. Metta was a bad man during his NBA days and he didn’t hesitate to taunt Kobe until he realized the man had a different mindset and was ready to kill you on the hardwoods.
Metta recently joined Showtime’s ‘All The Smoke’ podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, where he talked about Kobe and their relationship. He told a great story of Kobe and his mentality on the court, not caring about anything but winning.
“I go to ref and said, ‘Did you just not see him [Kobe] do that?’ and he said, ‘No, I didn’t see him’.
“So I go to Kobe and I am like ‘My brother, don’t you ever do that again my guy’… Kobe don’t care, Kobe was focused on the game. Kobe is a killer. He is different and I look up to Kobe.”
He then talked about the time he spent with Kobe on the Lakers, where they won a championship together.
“It was just amazing… Practice was very competitive right away, you know how Kobe is… I miss those moments with Kobe and him just playing really well working hard at 5:30 in the morning.”
Everybody has a great story to tell about Kobe and Metta isn’t the exception. He clashed with Kobe and played alongside him and his admiration was huge even when they went at it. Kobe left a huge hole in this world and nothing could fill it. We have to treasure these moments and anecdotes and remember him as the great man and competitor he was.
