Much like his hunger to win games and bring championships, Kobe Bryant also took pride in being one of the best trash-talkers to ever grace the basketball court. While he isn't Michael Jordan, he didn't let anyone walk all over him.
Let's go through the top five victims of his trash talk.
With just 28 seconds left in the game and the Lakers up by six, Artest yells at Kobe, "You're not ready for me." Classic Ron! Kobe hit him back with, "Ready for what exactly now, Ron? You're a stand-up comedian now?" Finishing with 37 points, Kobe was more than ready for Ron.
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Imagine someone trash talking like this now. They would probably receive technical fouls for it. This was back in the 2001 NBA Finals, and Derek Fisher had to step in to keep Kobe and Iverson apart.
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At a time when OKC was at it's peak with James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant leading them, in a game against the Lakers, Kobe reminded them who they were playing against. "Maybe one day they'll be able to sit at my lunch table," he said later on.
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No matter how much they tried to downplay it, Dwight Howard and Kobe just didn't get along even during their stint back in 2012-13 with the Lakers. In one game he called Howard, "soft as a m*****f*****" and a lot more.
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Kobe could never eclipse Michael Jordan when it comes to trash-talking. But he did know that he could not be bullied by him and gave him an earful during the 2003 All-Star game.
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