Kobe Bryant is one of the best players ever to grace the NBA. He is also one of the fiercest competitors the game has ever seen. His mamba mentality is very popular among youngsters nowadays as everyone tries to take the leaf out of his book and be as competitive as he was.
One would expect Kobe to use his mamba mentality only during the regular season and the playoffs then they are wrong. Recently in a podcast, Stephen Curry shared a story of him going up against Kobe in a preseason clash.
Curry shared how Kobe was picking him up full court and was not allowing him the free pass. “We were playing in a preseason game. He’s doing that mamba mentality thing, where he’s picking me up full court in a preseason game,” Curry described the experience in a recent episode of the Hot Ones podcast.
Curry was very irked by how Kobe was right in front of him every time doing his defensive duties. “In the first quarter, I’m like, you turn around and he’s like this — like standing there and like doing defensive slides like staying in front of me like, ‘Yo! What is happening right now? This is freaking Kobe Bryant.”
The move from Kobe worked perfectly on Curry as he admitted that after a few possession, he was gassed trying to find a way past Kobe. “So he stays with me for like four or five slides, and then he bumps me, and I kind of like fall off balance. So I’m actually gassed at this point. I’m tired of just trying to get in shape in the preseason game, and he’s just going, you know, all out on the defensive pressure. He’s way bigger and stronger than me. He’s bumping me and doing all that,” Curry further said.
However, eventually, Curry decided to take a gamble and he did what he does best – taking a shot from around 30 feet and found success immediately.
Despite getting the better off Kobe, Curry knew that he must keep his cool. The duel allowed Curry to get a perspective around pesky defenders in the NBA. “It’s like the biggest ‘keep your cool’ kind of moment in your life because, you know, it’s freaking Kobe. You’re trying to be super chill about it, but I just, you know, drain one from 30 on it,” he added.
Curry rightfully won the 2022 All-Star MVP award which is named after Kobe Bryant as a tribute to the great man.
