Kobe Bryant was a very demanding teammate. Being as motivated as he was, Kobe demanded the best from himself and his teammates. Bryant wanted to win at all costs, and while he was willing to do everything by himself, he knew that he couldn’t always go solo.
Bryant had the opportunity to play with some great players in his career. Kobe played with Shaquille O’Neal, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, or Ron Artest, and found a lot of success with them.
Bryant was always one of the best players when he was on the court, but demanded greatness from himself at all times. Kobe knew that he couldn’t always rely on his teammates, but has shown that he can trust his teammates to make big shots and complete big plays.
Recently, Metta World Peace spoke about how Kobe was able to trust him to take the three-pointer that sealed the victory for the Lakers in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. So Kobe knew when he had to defer to his teammates.
Former Los Angeles Lakers star and current head coach of the Sacramento Kings spoke about an incident he had with Kobe Bryant. Walton was a rookie and came to practice hungover smelling of alcohol. Kobe noticed this and decided to teach Walton a lesson.
“I probably had too much to drink the night before. So I came in, I was a rookie, I felt good, and they could smell some alcohol on me, and Kobe informed the rest of the team that nobody was allowed to help me on defense, and that I had to guard him the entire practice. And I was laughing at first, like ‘oh, this is funny’. But in Kobe’s mind, in his eyes, he was like ‘no, I see and smell weakness, I’m going to destroy you today.’ He taught me a lesson (laughing), he taught me a lesson. He probably scored 70-something in practice that day, and I’m begging for help, but none of my teammates would help. His killer instinct, and his work ethic will stick with me forever.”
Clearly, Walton doesn’t hold any grudges. And he got to learn first hand how Kobe’s killer instinct drove him on a daily basis.
But Kobe was always asking his teammates to do their best. As a highly competitive person, Kobe expected players to put in the same level of effort that he did on a daily basis. And if he felt that he wasn’t getting that from his teammates, he would take punishment into this own hands.
