Kobe Bryant is one of the fiercest competitors the game of basketball, or any sport for that matter, has ever seen. Kobe used the competition to drive and motivate himself, with a never-ending quest to be the best. When a person is wired like that, any sort of disrespect towards them can one day come back to haunt you.
That is what happened with Jamie Foxx, as he revealed in a story he told about Kobe recently. Foxx revealed that Kobe once declined to attend one of his shows at the STAPLES Center but kept texting back and forth with the comedian for a year. In that time, Foxx said Kobe couldn’t win a title with Ron Artest, to which Kobe responded after winning the 2010 title in the most Kobe way possible.
“I remember when Kobe and I got into an argument. He came to see my show in LA. We going back and forth, he’s saying this he’s saying that. He’s talking about all the dudes he’s killing and I said ‘LeBron’, he said ‘great player’ and he stopped in his tracks on that. Then we get to arguing too much, he says ‘you know what, I am not even going to watch your show. I am leaving’. I’m like ‘ what? We’re down by Staples Center and he said ‘I gotta practice’. So for a year, we text back and forth. ‘Y’all not gonna do it. Ron Artest is a headache, ain’t now ay you’re gonna make it’. He texted me back ‘do you have some water?’. I said ‘yeah’. He said, ‘good, because you’re going to choke on my fifth ring.”
Kobe Bryant’s Mamba Mentality
The one thing everyone knows very well about Bryant is that he never wanted to take a break from competition. He was always thinking about the game and what he could do to be better at it. His Mamba Mentality has inspired countless people that we see at the top level of the sport right now.
The 2010 title was one of the most meaningful for Kobe’s legacy. Not only did he avenge his 2008 Finals loss at the hands of the Boston Celtics, but this was also his 5th title, and that took him one ahead of former teammate Shaquille O’Neal. Kobe immortalized himself with this title win, and getting to clap back at Jamie Foxx must have been a sweet feeling for the star.
