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The Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant during warmups prior to Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets in Denver May 25, 2009. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Icon SMI/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Getty
The Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant during warmups prior to Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets in Denver May 25, 2009. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Icon SMI/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Anthony Davis is the bedrock of the current LA Lakers squad. Every single player that wears the purple and yellow tries to live up to the legacy that Kobe Bryant set with this team, and Anthony Davis is no different.
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Davis shared a relationship with Bryant that very few young players get to share. Kobe had a profound impact on AD during their time together, and AD remembers every bit of it. He believes it is hard for anyone to not love Kobe after everything he had done in his life, especially the ray of inspiration that he had become.
.@AntDavis23 on Kobe: "The way he was on the floor — a fierce competitor — the way he was off the floor — such a loving guy — I think it’s hard for people not to love Kobe and not see the inspiration that he tried to give to the world."
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) January 17, 2021
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Anthony Davis: Relationship with Kobe
Anthony Davis had a much closer relationship with Kobe than many realize. While they played together in the league for just four seasons, Davis and Bryant had already formed a relationship. The genesis of the relationship came in the 2012 Olympics where Davis was the youngest member of Team USA.
USA Today via Reuters
Jan 1, 2021; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) shoots a free throw against the San Antonio Spurs in the second half at the AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports
AD was just 19 and Kobe took an immediate liking to him. Davis would essentially shadow Kobe for the rest of the Olympics, learning a lot from Bryant. After the Olympics, Kobe would sit down with Davis and his family members whenever the Lakers played in New Orleans.
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One of the reasons that Kobe and AD got close was because Davis wasn’t too scared to ask Kobe questions. Bryant himself once spoke about this and said, “It was refreshing. A lot of guys don’t want to ask questions because they feel like it’s embarrassing or ego thing or blah blah blah.”
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Kobe means a lot to this current Lakers squad, and they displayed their respect for the legend in the 2019-20 season. The team would end all huddles with a shout out to Kobe by yelling Mamba at the end of them.
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Even though Bryant isn’t with us anymore, he lives on in the spirit of this Lakers team.
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