Kenyon Martin wrote a piece for The Players Tribune, and it’s a letter to his younger self detailing how his younger self should write a letter to his even younger self explaining how his even younger self should … oh, it’s not one of those?
It’s not! The former NBA star wrote about the five guys everyone hated playing against and one of them was Kobe Bryant, known primarily as the guy who took 400 shots in his final career game. If you find it hard to believe that someone hated playing against an egomaniacal type-A personality, here’s what Martin had to say:
“People can say whatever they want about Kobe, but Kobe don’t take no shit from nobody. Kobe would fight you in a minute. He would. That’s something I think a lot of fans didn’t know. People think of Kobe for all that skillful basketball stuff, but not for the fact that, if you stepped up to him, he’d fight back. Or if you clubbed him or hit him, he’d make you pay.
That’s ’cause Mamba would literally take your head off to win the game, man. He’d fuck you up. There’s a lot of trash talking on the court, but nobody ever said shit to Kobe.”
I’m thinking people would 100 percent believe that Kobe would become violent if he felt he wasn’t getting his way. If only there was some sort of example of this happening somewhere in Kobe’s life off the court that could validate Martin’s point. Oh well. Maybe this example will show up in the comments.
Another thing that bothers Martin — the NBA is too soft! Why does every athlete in every sport think the next generations are all wimpy wusses that couldn’t have handled playing back in the day?
I was just talking about this year’s All-Star Game with Chauncey (Billups). That was sickening to watch. That game was just a microcosm of the way the NBA is now. I’ve seen the problem for years because I’ve seen the route the game was going. Now the refs go over to the monitor after every hard foul.
I don’t believe in dirty players — I don’t know nobody out there who’s maliciously trying to hurt nobody. Sure, some people play harder than others. It’s kind of like football. You’ve got guys who play through the whistle, so to speak. That was a way some guys had to play to stick in the league. You did what you had to do. It was tooth and nail out there. Players had active dislike for certain players and certain teams.
I’m sure you’re all thinking it — the one thing missing from the NBA today is more hard fouls. My bloodlust can’t be satiated unless I see Steph Curry get absolutely murdered as he goes for a fast-break layup. Put him in the sixth row. Play through the whistle.
Why didn’t you ever hear Wilt Chamberlain talking about how the game should be more like it was in the 1960s in 1998? Why is it all these dudes from 20 years ago think the game today is bad? Next thing you know, Martin will tell people that the 2004-05 Denver Nuggets could beat the current Warriors.
