“He Had A Hard Time Understanding Sarcasm”: How Kobe Bryant Used to Prank Houston Rockets Legend
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The passing of Kobe Bryant left every basketball fan grieving. The unfortunate accident killed the mamba, who was enjoying his post-retirement life. Over the course of his NBA career, Kobe found friendship with several players, and one among them is Tracy McGrady.
McGrady and Kobe had a thick bond between them off the court. The pair met when they were a couple of teenagers playing in the NBA. Both of them displayed their magnificent talents from the day they entered the league. T-Mac admired Kobe a lot, and likewise, the Lakers legend was always inspired by his friend.
Kobe and McGrady did not need to validate their friendship to the public. However, they sat together for an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Rachel Nichols, last year. T-Mac started off by revealing Kobe’s desire to win. “He likes to play mind games and he always trying to get an edge on whoever his opponents were.”
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The Hall of Famer brought this up when he was reminiscing an incident where Kobe advised him to calm down with his workouts, because it was the off-season. But, when McGrady entered the gym, the mamba was right there, working out with weights. This was Kobe’s response to the incident. “He had a hard time understanding what sarcasm was. I was just being sarcastic.”
Kobe Bryant badly wanted to be teammates with McGrady
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The duo became close when McGrady entered the NBA in 1997. He was dying to gain his confidence playing as a rookie, while Kobe was already making his name in the league as a teenager. The drive of two teenagers wanting to make a name in the NBA is what got them to bond closely. “I had to lean on him at that time. We talked relentlessly,” McGrady said.
Kobe was not shy of revealing his love for McGrady’s talents. They might have faced off plenty of times on the court, but their friendship was greater. The five-time champion went on a mad scoring streak in the 2002-03 season, which didn’t sit well with T-Mac who was leading the scoring charts. “When I led the league in scoring, and this dude wrong off like nine straight 40 points, I was like hell no, I can’t let him come get me from the scoring title.”
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On the other hand, Kobe was even in higher praise for the former Houston Rockets man. “I always wish If I had one player to play with, it was this guy. He could do everything I could do, but he was taller.” He even took McGrady as an example to tell kids that he’s the hardest player to defend against.
The mamba recalled a time when they had to play against the Orlando Magic who were led by McGrady. However, the latter had a sore back leading up to the game. Kobe decided to have a little check by elbowing McGrady right in the back and T-Mac claims gave him a contusion. The duo were full of banter in their playing days, but also shared a thick friendship.
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