Kobe Bryant is a notoriously competitive person. It’s one of the traits that makes Kobe himself. Occasionally stories from Bryant’s teammates leak out about some competitive moment. Even this year, he took over practice and dominated after a little trash talk.
Kobe Bryant once wanted to fight Tyronn Lue for blocking his shot in practice
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue shared a new Kobe practice story and it’s possibly the best yet. According to Lue, he once blocked Bryant’s dunk attempt during a practice. Pinned it against the glass, in fact, leading to the game-winning bucket the other way. Bryant did not take the result well. “He went crazy,” Lue told ESPN. “Kobe wanted to fight me at first and then, second, he wanted to play one-on-one after practice.”
Bryant did not fight Lue and Lue turned down the overtures to play one-on-one. But it didn’t end there.
He was so mad and then, after that, it was just, every day we stepped onto the court, he just went after me every single day. It was crazy.
Kobe holding a competitive grudge over a single blocked shot and making sure to take it out on the person one practice at a time sounds very Kobe Bryant like. But it gets even better.
Every time we acquired a new guy, he would play those guys one-on-one after every practice just to show them, like, ‘I’m the man, I’m the man.’
Think of all those poor rookies who got absolutely owned in practice by Bryant over the years. All because Tyronn Lue once blocked Bryant’s shot.
The story eventually got back to Bryant and he responded in classic form.
Kobe said he didn't recall Tyronn Lue blocking him in practice: "Maybe he did. But I bet I kicked his ass more than he blocked me."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) February 10, 2016
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