Long before Kobe Bryant and this baller became NBA rivals, they were two of the brightest names in the legendary 1996 high school class. Their competitiveness carried from AAU basketball into the NBA, creating a relationship built as much on mutual respect as fierce competition. Decades later, however, it was not basketball that brought the two together.
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The fierce rival is Tim Thomas.
When wildfires threatened Thomas’ California home, Bryant quietly stepped in to take care of his former rival and his family.
Thomas recently revisited that connection during an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast. The former NBA forward first explained how their relationship stretched across different stages of their careers. And eventually into their lives away from the court.
“We played AAU basketball together, got a chance to compete against each other, you know, in the league, in the playoff series, all of that. Obviously, I lived in Calabasas. Accident happened, you know, right there. So I just felt like our connection, it’s always been there, you know what I mean? ’96 class, all of that.”
That connection became especially meaningful when California wildfires forced Thomas and his family to leave their home. With the danger escalating, the family headed toward Newport Beach while facing the possibility that their house could be destroyed.
Newport Beach, as Thomas recalled, happened to be Kobe Bryant’s territory.
What followed was not a grand public gesture from one of basketball’s biggest stars. Instead, Bryant used his personal relationships to make sure Thomas and his family were looked after without making the situation about himself.
“We pull up. First night, we thinking about our house, the whole shebang. Pull up, go to a restaurant, you know, get some dinner. Kobe knows the owner. He calls, ‘Take care of my guy.’ Bill probably six hundred, seven hundred dollars. I’m getting ready to pull the card out. ‘Oh, it’s taken care of.’ We took care of it? ‘Oh, Mr. Bryant.’ I’m like, ‘Mr. Bryant?’ Like, I mean, that man doesn’t know I’m here. How does he know I’m here? He was somewhere doing something. And then the rest of the time we had to be there was probably just two weeks or so. Everywhere I went in the city, I didn’t have to pay for anything.”
The restaurant bill was only the beginning. Thomas’ family was away from home for roughly two weeks, and Bryant continued to make sure they had what they needed. His actions apparently extended across their daily life in Newport Beach rather than stopping after one meal.
Kobe Bryant also had another solution available.
The Lakers legend owned multiple homes in the area, giving him the ability to offer Thomas’ family somewhere to stay while the wildfire situation developed. Thomas’s wife preferred remaining at their beach rental, but Bryant still made the offer.
“He was like, ‘Just go to the house.’ So yeah, I mean, it’s stuff like that with dude. You know.”
For Thomas, the story also carries a painful connection to Bryant’s death. He lives in Calabasas, placing him close to the area where Bryant and his daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020.
That geography made the memories even more difficult. Thomas could remember Bryant’s kindness while simultaneously living near a place associated with the most devastating moment of his former rival’s life.
The emotions became difficult for Thomas to contain as he recalled the circumstances.
“I remember that situation, like crazy, because it’s like it’s right there. So you try to drive over there, go see what’s going on, but it’s crazy. But yeah, man, as you can see, it’s tough.”
Thomas and Bryant were among the most highly regarded prospects in the 1996 high school class, and their rivalry reached another level during a tournament game in Maryland.
Experts widely considered Thomas as the No. 1 player in the country at the time. It even prompted Bryant to openly say he was going to “kill” him on the court and prove he belonged at the top. They later carried that competitive relationship into the NBA and playoff battles, but the hostility of those early matchups eventually gave way to a genuine bond.
But years later, Bryant’s most lasting impression on Thomas was not a playoff matchup or scoring duel.
The way he quietly showed up when Thomas’ family needed help.