Offended Kobe Bryant Surely Took His Revenge for Getting Benched vs Michael Jordan in the NBA All-Star Game

Published 02/24/2022, 6:15 AM EST

If you ever get on the wrong side of Kobe Bryant on a basketball court, you better watch out, as the man will come with everything the next time he sees you. And unfortunately for George Karl and the Denver Nuggets, that’s exactly what happened.

In his second year in the NBA, Kobe was already one of the best young players in the league. And with fan voting, he was named as an all-star starter. However, he wasn’t even starting on his own team. And this was in back in 1998, when Michael Jordan was at his peak. MJ was Kobe’s idol, and Kobe wanted to see what Jordan was made of. Hence, Kobe did not back down and went at Jordan in the all-star game.

“I can hoop,” says Kobe Bryant

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Kobe was asked how he felt being a part of the all-star game. He said ” It was huge honor… I didn’t make it seem like I’m a bubblegum player, popularity got me in there. Hold on, I can hoop… I wanted to prove like, no I belong here. The hype of going up against Mike- it was… Okay. Let’s go, show me.. I’ve been watching you play my whole life. Show me. I want to see this. Everybody calling you Black Jesus and all that crap like you’re going to have to show me man”

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Kobe says that Jordan respected him after the game because he didn’t back down and he didn’t shy away from the confrontation. He says that year’s All-Star head coach, George Karl, was also a source of motivation. Karl had benched Kobe in the fourth quarter when he took on Jordan. Kobe adds, “We played against Denver to never let them win a playoff series because he didn’t play me the whole fourth quarter of that game. Because me and Mike went at it, you know for three quarters… He benches me the whole fourth quarter. And it was like- Okay. It’s on sight, It’s on sight… You will never beat me in a playoff series”

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Kobe actually never lost to the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs and he had an additional chip on his shoulder. Kobe was already highly motivated and if he has a vendetta against you, get ready to feel the wrath of the Black Mamba.

WATCH THIS STORY: Top Moments from the 2022 NBA All-Star Game

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Vishwesha Kumar is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. Holder of a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, Vishwesha has been writing content for about 3 years now. He has been following the NBA for nearly 10 years, since first starting off in the year 2012.

Offended Kobe Bryant Surely Took His Revenge for Getting Benched vs Michael Jordan in the NBA All-Star Game

“I can hoop,” says Kobe Bryant

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