Kobe Bryant was as fearless as they come. Nobody could do anything on the court that would frighten or intimate Kobe. Bryant had nerves of steel when he was on the court and was ready to do anything to get his team the win. Which meant bothering his opponents into making a dumb decision.
Kobe was a pest. And Matt Barnes got really annoyed playing against him. During a game between the Lakers and the Orlando Magic, a rematch of that year’s NBA Finals, Barnes faked throwing the ball in Kobe’s face from an out. But infamously, Kobe didn’t even flinch at the fake-out, a moment that is still remembered by most NBA fans.
According to Matt Barnes though, he didn’t intend to fake the ball in Kobe’s face. In a recent interview (0:30 mark), Barnes revealed what happened in that game. Kobe was playing violently with Barnes and getting away with it. In reality, Barnes wanted to throw the ball in his face, but his arms instinctively faked it.
“In the Orlando situation, I mean anyone that plays Kobe knows he’s dirty. Grabs you, elbows you, says sh*t, does whatever. But they’ll never call a foul on him. Known for elbowing you in the sternum, known for just doing all kinds of crazy sh*t, but that was part of that mental warfare that he liked to put on you. This motherf***er elbowed me in my sternum, hit me in the nuts, elbowed me in the chin. Like I’mma fight this dude because these punk-a** refs aren’t calling nothing. So when the ball fake sh*t happened, it wasn’t like I’m gonna fake the ball in his face. Literally, my arms just did it by themselves. I wanted to slam that shi*t in his face. So I faked it, and then it kind of became what it did.”
Part of the attitude that brought him so much success and admiration in the NBA was his confidence. Kobe couldn’t be messed with, or gotten to even if players did their absolute best to. He was just that locked in when it came to the game.
On top of that, Bryant would use any and every trick in the book to give him the advantage. This would mean playing physically and bullying his opponents to give himself a physical and mental edge. And as we look back at his career, we can see how much success it brought him.
