The late Kobe Bryant remains beloved by Los Angeles Lakers nation, perhaps more than any other player, including Magic Johnson and Jerry West.
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So Kobe's opinion still matters years after the tragic helicopter crash that took his life. And according to former NBA great Carmelo Anthony, Bryant was no fan of JJ Redick, just hired as Lakers coach.
"I remember Kobe couldn't stand JJ Redick," Anthony said on his 7PM in Brooklyn podcast.
CBS Sports explained the Bryant-Redick connection. And that would be none other than Coach K. Both Bryant and Redick were part of the Team USA tryouts ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"Mike Krzyzewski was the Team USA head coach, and he had some history with Redick as he had coached him at Duke. Krzyzewski was raving about the former Blue Devil, who was a two-time ACC Player of the Year and the 2006 National Player of the Year," wrote Isabel Gonzalez of CBS Sports.
It seems as if Bryant sensed a little favoritism toward Redick while at training camp. (For the record, Bryant skipped college, but had he decided to go, he said his choice would've been Duke.)
"He got tired of Coach K talking about JJ Redick," Anthony said in the podcast. "Kob took it very, very personal. To the point where he was running through screens in practice. He was denying JJ the ball. Fouling the s**t out of JJ. I'm like, why are you treating the young boy like that?
"...This Motherf****r ain't let JJ Redick score in practice."
Melo tells the story of Kobe Bryant bullying JJ Redick during Team USA tryouts because he was sick of Mike Krzyzewski talking him up 😭
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— 7PM in Brooklyn (@7PMinBrooklyn) June 20, 2024
Now, all of this may be news to the Lakers, and the rest of the world, but it's not hard to believe Anthony's tale. He was there.
