With his posthumous induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame later this year, Kobe Bryant‘s NBA legacy will be further cemented as one of the greatest players in the history of the league. As we all know, the Laker great and one of the best shooting guards of all-time passed away prematurely in a helicopter crash earlier this year.
Mamba Mentality Not So Great for Teammates
Kobe’s confidence and drive to become the best was the trait that was most admired by fans and players alike. On the other hand, his “Mamba Mentality” was also the primary reason why teammates and NBA followers disliked him. While Kobe’s determination is admirable in a vacuum, his detractors would point out that on his way to the top, that same determination was often synonymous with selfishness. With his tunnel vision, Kobe left a bad taste in many people’s mouths during his career including when a 17 year old Bryant would participate in pick up games in Philadelphia.
According to Jerry Stackhouse, Kobe wouldn’t pass the ball and players were so bothered by his selfishness that oftentimes Kobe wouldn’t even get picked.
“Kobe had some good days scoring the ball, because he could handle it so well.” Stackhouse said on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast The Woj Pod. “But he had tunnel vision at that point. You had pickup games, sometimes he didn’t even get picked up.”
Even in pick up games when one-and-one is encouraged and practicing your moves weren’t just common, but expected, Kobe’s ability to shoot every shot stood out… in a bad way. NBA player Lionel Simmons would always pull Kobe to the side and say “‘Man, you gotta pass the ball! You gotta learn how to do this!’“ recalled Stackhouse, who is now the head coach of Vanderbilt.
As we’ve come to expect, the headstrong Kobe continued doing his thing: shoot the ball.
What happened with Kobe was nobody really wanted to play with Kobe.” said Stackhouse Because the older guys were from Philly. These stories kind of take on a life of their own”
Stackhouse Squashes Kobe 1-on-1 Rumors
As Stackhouse mentioned above, stories tend to take on a life of their own. One of those that went from a rumor to accepted story was that Kobe beat Stackhouse 1-on-1. While there’s some truth to the story, it wasn’t the entire story, so Stackhouse wanted to set the story straight.
“Because (Kobe has been so) great… Stackhouse told Wojnarowski. “These stories go back of ‘Oh, he beat Stackhouse one-on-one.’ Come on, man. Me at 20 years old, can you imagine a 17-year-old beating me consistently? I’d have hurt him first, real talk.”
The two-time former NBA-All Star elaborated on why Kobe wouldn’t have beat him consistently. “Just physically, that could never happen to me. Did we play one-on-one? Yes. Did he beat me, did he maybe win a game? Yes. Did he consistently beat Jerry Stackhouse at 20 years old when he was 17? Hell no. I’m putting an end to that story.”
“Was he super talented and everyone saw great potential in him? Yes, but they’re a little bit of a different story when you go talk to people that were actually in the gym.” Stackhouse said.
