There is no shortage of stories about Kobe Bryant’s competitive fire. Many were intimidated due to the Mamba’s aura, but Kyrie Irving is not one of them.
Kyrie Irving made it to the USA Select Team to scrimmage against the 2012 Team USA. Irving famously challenged Kobe to a 1-on-1 game. Now more than a decade later, Kyrie reacted to that clip and paid tribute to the late NBA legend on Twitter.
“Love you for life Bean. Wish you were still here,” Kyrie tweeted.
Love you for life Bean.
Wish you were still here.
Hélà
🤞🏾♾
— Kyrie🤞🏾 (@KyrieIrving) July 4, 2023
In the summer of 2012, Kyrie Irving came off winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award. He was surging with confidence. Here’s the full clip of Irving’s 1-on-1 challenge to Bryant.
The two players went back and forth with words. Bryant even claimed that he would score 50 points the next time he faced the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The epic duel ended with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers suffering a 94-100 defeat. However, Bryant scored 42 points vs. the Cavs. On the other hand, Irving had a phenomenal game as well, scoring 28 points against his idol.
Paul George Revealed Story Of Kyrie Irving Trash Talking To Kobe Bryant And Team USA
A young Kyrie Irving was always full of energy. There are numerous stories to support Irving’s cocky behavior during his stint with USA Select Team in 2012.
Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George shared how Kyrie Irving trash-talked Kobe Bryant and rest of the members of Team USA in 2012.
“Obviously, it was cool to be on the Select team, it was a dream come true,” George said. “What people don’t see from that moment is how tough it was. I don’t know if you’ve seen that clip where Kai is doing some special s**t, he’s breaking down the whole team, putting it behind his legs. That play happened because we could not get the ball past half-court.”
He added: “Bron, Kob, Melo, they’re all picking up full-court, they’re like in our s**t. It was crazy because Kai took it upon himself. It was after his rookie season, and we were watching it like, ‘Ohhh.’ He went at Kobe too, he was feeling himself.”
Irving has now become one of the best players in the league in his position. Unfortunately, the Dallas Mavericks superstar is often misunderstood for his beliefs off the court.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
