Quentin Richardson has gotten used to sharing the great stories he lived during his basketball career, enchanting everybody with the things he has to say. Over a 13-year stint in the NBA, Q-Rich racked up plenty of anecdotes to tell, and one of the most spectacular involves the late Kobe Bryant and his work ethic.
Back in February, Richardson was interviewed by Slam during the All-Star weekend in Chicago, leaving nothing but good stories to share. He recalled his time with the New York Knicks, telling stories about his former teammates, as well as the biggest moment of his career, among other things. Moreover, he talked about Kobe Bryant and what made the Los Angeles Lakers legend the huge icon he is right now.
“Man, what made Kob’ who he was…
“NBA players, professional athletes, we say what sounds good a lot. We talk about things that sound good a lot. The difference with Kobe is that he legitimately went out there and did exactly what he was talking about. No matter how hard or how difficult it was, he was committed and was one of the few people who was really doing exactly what he said. You know, you might hear somebody over-exaggerate: Man, I do this or that. I think he was the only person that whatever he said, I literally believed exactly what he said because I knew he was that type of focused dude to do it. You know how if somebody’s talking to you, like, Man, I worked out four times today. I’ll be like, Alright, you’re blowing smoke. When he said that it was like, OK, why did you do that? I know you’re maniacal about this shit so I know you legit did it. What did you do? There’s going to be an intrigue to whatever he said because you know that he did it. And you saw it. I lived in L.A. for the first four years of my career and I never saw him anywhere outside a basketball gym. Ever. Not one time. Nothing. I told him that and he legit said, At that point, I wasn’t anywhere but there. You weren’t going to catch me but a couple of places. That’s all I was doing. There wasn’t nothing else to do for me… That’s why when you get on the court, playing against him is like you’re in the third person. I’m outside of my body like, what is this dude about to do? He legit would do anything. You’ve seen clips of him shooting left-hand jumpers when his arm was hurt. And hitting it. A real shot in a game. What?”
Kobe was definitely a different type of player, obsessed with success and he never stopped working to reach his goals. The Black Mamba had a different mindset, he was all in for winning and nothing less. Everybody who talks about him will tell you the same; Kobe made a big impact on the game for his killer instinct, but also his hard work and dedication.
Sadly, the world lost one of the best professional athletes in history when he tragically died in a helicopter crash last January 26. Ever since that, we’ve gotten to know more and more stories about KB24 and the things that made him one of the best players in the history of the game. Richardson now shared his own Kobe story, and it’s remarkable.
