It’s been a busy week for Kobe Bryant. After celebrating his 38th birthday, he also had the honor of having August 24th christened “Kobe Bryant Day” in Los Angeles, an homage to the two jersey numbers (8 and 24) he wore during his playing days with the Lakers.
On Friday, Kobe went on the Jim Rome Show to talk about all this and more, when the conversation inevitably turned to the topic of his good buddy Kevin Durant’s decision to join the Warriors in free agency this summer. Rome then asked Kobe point-blank whether he thought any less about Durant for making that move. Hat tip to Ananth Pandian of CBS Sports for text of the segment:
“As a competitor, I would have thought less about myself if I looked at that move and said, ‘That’s unfair.’ If you’re a real competitor, you look at that and say, ‘OK, lace ’em up. Let’s go. I don’t care how many players you have over there; we’re still going to take you down.'”
That sounds about right coming from Kobe. To be clear, Kobe did not, in this instance, say that he personally wouldn’t have chosen to join the Warriors, although when asked earlier in the interview about which player reminds him the most of himself, there was no hesitation: Russell Westbrook. Make of that what you will.
(Jim Rome Show; h/t CBS Sports)
