Who Needs a Genre?

Kobe is the man! I mean, he’s not Jordan (sorry Dub, I had to take that shot lol) but he’s ill most def! He would demolish Kyrie Irving in a one on one…c’mon…Recently Kobe sat with ESPN the Magazine for a pretty dope and honest interview. These were some of the standout questions.

When was the last time you watched Michael Jordan tapes?

Wow, it’s been a while. Probably not since 1999. I used to watch a bunch, but that was a long time ago.

What was it like dropping 33 on him as a 19-year-old in your second year?

I wasn’t scared or nervous back then when I played Jordan. He looked at me like he was going to f— me up but I had to let him know that I wasn’t that guy. I let him know that I’m not like all those other guys he played against. That’s not what I was there for. I was there to compete and I did.

Did you let him know that verbally?

More so by the way I played and competed.

Early on you got tired of the MJ comparisons, but a part of you had to be flattered, right?

I appreciated them, but after a while it just got old. They eventually faded away because I was putting together my own identity. But I’ll never forget how much I learned from MJ. I got so much from him. I knew what he did, I knew his moves and I used them. But for me the comparisons didn’t work because our situations were totally different. I came straight out of high school and played with a dominant big in Shaquille. Man, I was so young when I got to the NBA. What was I, like, 17? I mean, 17! The more you think about it, my situation was completely different than MJ’s, so the comparisons were just, you know, I stopped paying attention to them.

Who would you most like to play one-on-one, either active or retired?
Jordan. No question.

What would happen?
I’m not sure, but he would win some and I would win some in a seven-game series. It would probably come down to the last few shots

You versus LeBron? Who wins?
Me. No question. As far as one-on-one, I’m the best to ever do it.

Damn. That’s pretty confident.
LeBron is a terrific all-around, five-on-five basketball player who’s an all-time great. But I’d get him.

Who could get you?
Kevin Durant is the guy that would give me the most trouble. With his length and ability to use the dribble he’d be tough.

I always wanted to see you play Tracy McGrady.
I played T-Mac. I cooked him. Roasted him. Wasn’t even close. Ask him, he’ll tell you. When I was about 20, we were in Germany doing some promotional stuff for that other sneaker company and we played basketball everyday. We were in the gym all the time. We played three games of one-on-one to 11. I won all three games. One game I won 11-2. After the third game he said he had back spasms and couldn’t play anymore.

His back bothered him for most of his career.
Well, now you know.

What about Kyrie Irving?
[Huge smile, laugh.] Kyrie’s my boy, but he knows he doesn’t have anything for me. He doesn’t want to see me. But it would be fun. I’ve beaten a lot of guys one-on-one, like Reggie Miller and Grant Hill. I used to play Caron Butler all the time in practice when he was with the Lakers. When I was a rookie I used to get Nick van Exel and Eddie Jones. They know. They’ll tell you. They used to come at me hard but I wasn’t having that. I love going one-on-one with someone. That’s what I do. I’ve never lost. It’s a whole different game, just to have them right in front you and be able to do whatever you want.

Of all the questions, this is one of my favorites. It shows you the mindset of successful people:

Have you ever been intimidated on the basketball court?

Never. Not at all. My mind doesn’t work that way. It’s something that’s never even entered my thought process. The last time I was intimidated was when I was 6 years old in karate class. I was an orange belt and the instructor ordered me to fight a black belt who was a couple years older and a lot bigger. I was scared s—less. I mean, I was terrified and he kicked my ass. But then I realized he didn’t kick my ass as bad as I thought he was going to and that there was nothing really to be afraid of. That was around the time I realized that intimidation didn’t really exist if you’re in the right frame of mind.

Click HERE to read the interview in full.

This commercial for the new Kobe shoe is funny too! Count on Kobe lol…

Tags: Jordan, Kobe Bryant