Retiring Lakers legend Kobe has said that he appreciates guys who can talk trash. But from a rookie questioning his mettle at the free-throw line?
That one didn’t fly, as reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry recalled in an interview with GQ about a meeting between the Warriors and Lakers during Curry’s rookie season in March of 2010 (emphasis added):
GQ: This being Kobe’s last All-Star game, do you have a favorite Kobe memory?
Curry: Our rookie year we were playing at Oracle and they had a 3-point lead down the stretch. He got fouled, going to the free throw line to ice the game with two free throws. As he’s walking from one end of the court to the other, I’m this rookie that’s just kind of living in the moment and I walk up to him as he’s walking to the free throw line: “Hey, man, you nervous about these free throws?” The look he gave me was so just mean and cold. Just like, “What are you talking about? Get out of my face, you dumb rookie.” He obviously made the two free throws and they won. I’ll remember that look he gave me forever.
You know that look. The kind that crawls into the soul, hollows out some space and never leaves, apparently:
