NBA – Kobe Bryant’s former teammate reveals: “He respected you if you did that”

Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif

Known for being very demanding of his teammates, Kobe Bryant only respected them if he deemed them worthy. But Rick Fox, who played alongside him for a few years, recently revealed what it took to win his favor.

Winning alongside Kobe Bryant was one thing; supporting him on a daily basis was quite another. While the former Lakers guard may be one of basketball’s greatest icons, being his teammate wasn’t easy. A true workaholic and extremely demanding of himself, the Mamba expected his teammates to apply the same discipline he did… which, unfortunately, wasn’t always the case.

For example, we know how his cohabitation with Shaquille O’Neal ended, the two men having hated each other for many years after rolling around the league with a three-peat in the early 2000s. However, there was a way to gain acceptance and even respect from the five-time champion. It was his former teammate Rick Fox who recently lifted the veil on the subject in Giant Ventures:

Rick Fox Reveals the secret to getting Kobe Bryant to respect him

Kobe, you need to fight. Kobe doesn’t respect you unless you challenge him, like all the way up to fighting. Physically fighting. And he and I had our share of fights in practice. Physical fights. But that was his basketball love language. If you didn’t back down to him, then he respected you. And a lot of people didn’t actually get that because he was Kobe Bryant.

So if he challenged you, the natural thing to do would be to wilt — right? Especially if you’re a younger player coming up. But that was his way, similar to Michael Jordan — their way of testing whether or not they could trust you in the foxhole. If things went down, are you going to wilt, fold, and run away? Or are you going to stand with me and fight?

So if you won’t fight me and I’m the biggest, baddest animal, as they would feel they are in the jungle — then how do I know you got my back? How do I know you’re going to cover my back?

According to Fox, this is also why the duo that Kobe formed with O’Neal was ultimately doomed to failure, the center not having the same vision of things:

Shaq being different—Shaq needed the attention. He wanted the love and appreciation for being a benevolent king, which he was. If you respected him, if you acknowledged that it was his team, he was there to serve you. Everything was for you. And if he felt you needed him—oh man, did he show up in big ways. Other than that, he needed to have fun.