There are plenty of stories about Kobe Bryant’s competitiveness and excellence. He was great both on and off the court, leaving a lot of memories for fans, media members, coaches, and fellow players.
Just like his idol and mentor Michael Jordan, Kobe was a fierce competitor and didn’t hesitate to beat his rival on any ground. The late Los Angeles Lakers icon once took all of Jason Kidd’s money after the legendary point guard let WNBA legend Diana Taurasi play for him.
According to 2021 WNBA champion Candace Parker, the current Dallas Mavericks head coach had to go somewhere and let Taurasi take his place and his money, which turned out to be a bad decision.
Talking with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Parker revealed that Kobe taunted Taurasi since she sat down, eventually taking all of the money she was taking care of in a card game named booray.
“Jason Kidd let Diana [Taurasi] play for him one time, and Kobe was just egging Diana on. She lost all of J-Kidd, like all of his money. This had to be Beijing. [Kobe took] all of his money. And I just remember watching Kobe just stir the pot the whole time.”
Rooks tried to discover how much money Taurasi lost at the time, but Candace wasn’t willing to give more details about that infamous game.
“I’m breaking the code if I say how much, I’m breaking the code. It was over. I’ll just say over.”
It would’ve been curious to see how Kidd reacted after learning Kobe took all of his money. Taurasi remains one of the greatest players in WNBA history, winning the 2009 WNBA MVP, collecting three championships, earning two Finals MVP in the process. She’s definitely one of the GOATs, but there was nothing she could do to beat Kobe during that game. He got under her skin and made her lose control and money.
Still, they had huge respect for each other, with Bryant calling Diana ‘The White Mamba.’ Taurasi was one of the people who talked in Kobe’s memorial service last year, showing how much she appreciated her friend and his daughter Gianna, who sadly lost her life alongside her father and seven other people.
