Ex-NBA star DeMarcus Cousins has never shied away from acknowledging the ones who stood by him during his darkest days, and Kobe Bryant sits at the top of that list. When injuries sidelined Cousins and self-doubt crept in, it was Bryant who showed up with words that hit deeper than a motivational speech. In a league where tough love is often the norm, Kobe gave Cousins something rare: Understanding. Because in many ways, he’d lived that same story before.

Naturally, that made Kobe’s support feel different. Cousins wasn’t just getting encouragement from a legend; he was being seen by someone who’d been through it all—the surgeries, the rehab, the isolation. “It meant a lot,” Cousins reflected, because he knew the five-time champ understood the pain he was going through, both physically and mentally. More than just comfort, Kobe gave him confidence. “It was nice… to get the assurance, based on Bryant’s experience, that he was going to have a successful recovery.”

Still, things hadn’t always been that warm between the two. In fact, Cousins recently dug up a 15-year-old memory from his rookie season—a memory that’s left him with a permanent reminder of just how intense Kobe could be. “We’ve had other memories, but this one always kind of stuck out to me because it’s a permanent thing for me now,” he said. But what followed was anything but casual.

So what happened back then? “So, my rookie season, we were playing Kobe in LA. And you know, when Kobe would drive to the basket, when he would try to sell the foul, you know, he kind of had his infamous flail. Like, he just kind of, well, he flailed, got me right in the eye. Boom. To this day, my vision is blurry,” Cousins admitted. The hit may have been accidental, but its impact clearly wasn’t.

Even so, that wasn’t the story’s end. In fact, it’s what came after that gave Cousins a whole new respect for Bryant. Not only did Kobe help Cousins recover—physically and mentally—but he also became a quiet mentor.

Kobe’s mamba mentality gave Cousins the grit to keep going

Last year, when DeMarcus Cousins opened up on the Knuckleheads podcast, his words carried the weight of someone who’s been through hell and clawed his way back. Asked how he got through the brutal injuries that derailed his prime, Cousins didn’t sugarcoat it. “The only way to get through hard times is to put your head down and keep pushing,” he said. And it wasn’t just about pain—it was mental warfare. “Rehab is the hardest, the worst part of anything. It challenges you in ways you could never even imagine,” Cousins admitted, laying bare just how taxing the recovery process truly was.

Besides, that kind of grit doesn’t just appear overnight. It was rooted in everything he’d already survived. His entire journey—through setbacks, criticisms, and frustrations—had molded his response to adversity. “Once you hit rock bottom, you ain’t got nowhere to go but up,” he shared, summing up the perspective that kept him from giving up when things got dark.

On top of that, just when he needed a spark the most, one call changed everything. Kobe Bryant himself reached out. “Having Kobe reach out, you know, about the injury was obviously inspiring,” Cousins said. “We all watched Kobe go through the same injury…he made it…possible to be like ‘I can come back from this.’”

And clearly, it hit deeper than motivation posters ever could. Kobe’s own battles added weight to his words. “To watch him do it late in his career, you know, inspired a lot of guys… He definitely was, you know, a person that pushed me to, you know, get through that process,” Cousins admitted.

So, in the end, it was Kobe’s belief that lit the fire Cousins needed to rise again.