“The Black Mongoose Got You”: Former Wizards Star Reveals How He Earned Kobe Bryant’s Respect Without Backing Down From His Threat

In 2006, Kobe Bryant was outclassed during a match by Gilbert Arenas. The Washington Wizards star scored 60 points against the 5x champion, which still remains the most points ever scored against Kobe Bryant. However, Kobe was not impressed and later called Arenas’s teammate Caron Butler to warn him and to let Arenas know to be prepared when they meet later that season in Washington.

But Gilbert Arenas’ teammates trusted in him as they started shouting, “The black mongoose got you” to show they weren’t afraid of Kobe Bryant. This was obviously a play on the black mamba name, as mongooses are immune to the black mamba’s venom. But Arenas used this opportunity to earn Kobe Bryant’s respect.

“I knew when he was coming and people saying, ‘Was your best game the 60?’ — Nah. For Kobe, my best game was 37. The reason is, he said I wasn’t gonna score 20, and I took that as a personal challenge… This wasn’t about the win. This is about, am I gonna stand up that an assassin is coming. So he had 39. I had 37. That’s where I gained my respect,” said the 3x All-Star in a recent episode of Podcast P with Paul George.

Arenas was initially worried that he had messed things up for himself as his teammates used the mongoose comments. However, Kobe Bryant was not going to stop. The Los Angeles Lakers legend was going to do everything he could to contain Arenas. Yet Arenas went on to score 37 points, which made Kobe acknowledge his skill and Arenas as a player.

Gilbert Arenas was heavily influenced by Kobe Bryant

Although the two had a rivalry with each other, Gilbert Arenas looked up to Kobe when he was younger. The black mamba’s work ethic was something Arenas wanted to follow in his own life.

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This was also one of the catalysts for Arenas scoring 60 points against Kobe Bryant. Before facing the Lakers, Arenas had decided to head to the stadium a few hours earlier to watch Kobe Bryant work out on the court. He learned what Kobe was focusing on and used it to have a career night for himself.

Arenas dedicated himself to becoming someone like Kobe Bryant. He played every game as if it were game 7 of the NBA finals, and this helped him get three All-NBA selections continuously before getting injured.

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