It’s still surreal that Kobe Bryant has finally retired! Plus, he had the nerve to rack up 60 points and it was just incredible. Well some of Bryant’s teammates decided to reflect on that magical night and first up was Nick Young! Nick shared a funny story about how Kobe cussed him out after the game for trying to get him to sign his Adidas sneakers knowing Kobe is endorsed by Nike! Shade!
Nick Young:
“The feeling was like we won a championship or something. They had the champagne bottles after, but it was great—the confetti; the five-minute intro he had. Kobe signing autographs, and we’re all in line like we were fans.
The fact he threw my Adidas and didn’t sign my Adidas, disappointed in that. He couldn’t not end with something like that. He threw my SHOES in the trash. But that’s Kobe for you. He signed some Nike’s. [He told] someone [to go] get some Nike’s; he’s not signing no [sic] Adidas. But he also took a picture with my son. I thought that was cool, too.”
That was so shady, but Nick knew better lol!
Check out a few of the other player’s sentiments about parting with the one and only Kobe Bryant.
Metta World Peace:
“Prior to the game, we were in the locker room. That’s when I felt the most emotion because Kobe was talking about how he wanted us to play hard and play to exhaustion. He probably was the only one who played to exhaustion, so he was probably talking for no reason. But he played hard, man!
I was animated even when he was missing (shots) because I figured if he’s going to miss every shot, I’m going to cheer for him all night. He didn’t start off hot. He started off looking like a bum, huh? (watch video for this one) I’m like ‘Kobe, man, you don’t got it not more, man.’ So I said, you know what, I’m going to cheer every time because he had a couple air balls and he had a couple turnovers. My thing was, if he’s going to go out like this, we’re going to go out strong. We’re going to go out positive as if we won the championship—no crack in the armor. And then, he just caught fire.
It was amazing. I was just screaming…I just remember around the fourth quarter having a headache from screaming and jumping so loud and high. It was great.”
Larry Nance Jr.:
“I was a fan for most of it. It was hard not to be. You can’t script a better ending than that. Twenty years of greatness and I got to be a part of his end of career celebration. So, it’s something that I’ll always remember. I’ll just never forget that.”
D’Angelo Russell:
“The craziest thing that I remember is, I think one of their players blocked his shot—great block—and the fans started booing him (the player). I was like ‘Wow!’ Then, another two minutes later, he fouled somebody, and the ref called a foul on him. And everybody started booing him (the ref). That’s crazy for everybody to be cheering for you like that.
He shot 50 shots, made 22 to them. Literally, it felt it every shot he shot went in. I don’t remember his misses, but I remember his makes vividly. And the fans, they were on their feet the whole time.
If I was him, I feel like if I go out on my last game I’d be feeling like my mind is playing mental gymnastics with myself. This is my last game. I feel like I’m too old to keep playing because it’s my last game—that’s what I’m thinking. But he goes out, and he puts on a 60-point performance. I’m going to tell myself, ‘Yo, I can play 82 more games and possibly do it again.’ But him saying he gave it all he got, he can’t give any more to the game—that just shows that he’s done it all.”
Check out the rest of the team’s thoughts:
Job well done, Kobe! Enjoy your retirement!
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on Instagram & @tallyohhh on Twitter!
Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/Lakers-teammates-take-Kobe-Bryant-final-game-375759691.html
