Back in his heyday, Kobe Bryant was a hard man to stop. He could score from all areas of the court and just had a way of making shots in spite of whatever defense was being played.
In one particular instance (a moment that has been made famous), Shane Battier tried literally sticking his entire hand in Bryant’s face. You can probably guess how that turned out. The situation was explained in “The Brodie and the Beard” show.
“I knew that if I had any chance, of staying with this guy, I would have to play my best game, I’d have to be so mentally sharp, I couldn’t make any mistakes. And even then, I still got torched. But he was an amazing problem to try to solve through data. And a funny story about the hand in the face: and Kobe and Mamba mentality says ‘that didn’t work. I have so much muscle memory I saw right through it.’
The reason I did that was not to make him miss. That wasn’t my aim, which he thought it was. It was to try to get him to prove that that method didn’t work. And by trying to prove that method didn’t work, the only way he could do that is take his worst shot, the long dribble jumper. That’s all I cared about. Whether he made it or missed the shot, I didn’t care.”
Shane Battier (@ShaneBattier) tells the story behind the infamous image of his hand directly in Kobe Bryant’s face.
Kobe’s response: “That didn’t work. I saw right through it.” 🤣🐍🙏🏾
Full #Rockets episode: https://t.co/bpIz5xtyqm pic.twitter.com/NxfRCNezP7
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) May 15, 2020
According to Battier, he and Kobe were playing chess out there.
“But I knew he was doing the thing that was most beneficial for me and the most harmful for his efficiency by taking that shot. So that was the game within the game within the game that Kobe and I played with each other. It was the ultimate chess match.”
Whatever Battier’s intent, it’s fair to say Kobe won the war. Not only did he make the shot and score 32 points that day, but his team went on to win the series and, eventually, the Championship.
It would be Kobe’s fourth title win.
And though he isn’t here to share stories of his journey with us now, we’ll always have guys like Battier who respected Bryant and witnessed first-hand just how good he was at his craft. They’ll help keep his legacy alive.
