The Kobe Bryant farewell tour has already included some interesting moments, but you knew his final trip to Arco Arena on Thursday, where he played so many contentious games against the Sacramento Kings, was going to be special.
Why the Kings tweeted they were giving Kobe a hamburger to celebrate his final game in Sacramento
Part of the celebration of Kobe’s final game included this interesting tweet from the team’s official account:
In honor of your Sacramento farewell… pic.twitter.com/xR4NOuxnBH
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 8, 2016 At first, I was a bit confused by what the Kings were trying to go for here, since candles on a hamburger are just plain weird but then I was reminded of a story involving Kobe and the Kings from 2002.
Ten years ago, on May 20, 2002, the basketball world awoke to the news that Kobe Bryant came down with food poisoning after eating a room service dinner of a cheeseburger and cheesecake at the Lakers' Sacramento hotel.
"He was curled up like a shrimp," Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti said rather famously at the time of checking on an ailing Bryant in the wee small hours of the morning in his room at the Hyatt.
Back when it happened, it was a major storyline, with some even thinking the mob was behind Kobe’s bad beef. Eventually, the story blew over, but it’s always fun to see teams go back in the archives to find a funny moment that encapsulated the intensity of the Kings-Lakers rivalry.
