Stephen Curry Reveals Amazing Kobe Bryant Story on ‘Hot Ones’

Every player has their “Welcome to the NBA Moment,” but the first moment of dealing with the star you idolize can be a completely different experience.

For older generations, it was playing against Michael Jordan. For the current generation, it’s playing against LeBron James. But for the older stars in today’s tackle, it’s a match against Kobe Bryant.

After Bryant passed away due to a plane crash in 2020, many memories and stories about the Black Mamba were revealed. In particular, there is not a little information from his colleagues in the NBA.

Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry recently went on “Hot Ones” with Sean Evans, where he talked about three memorable experiences he had while playing against Bryant during his career.

(NBA Getty Images)

Curry was tipped off when Evans asked about the story about the nickname “The Baby-Faced Assassin” that Bryant gave himself. That opened the door for Curry to talk about Kobe.

Curry started with a story from his rookie year. He recalled the moment Bryant was able to show respect in his final game, something Curry didn’t find out until the end of the game.

“It was my rookie year and we were playing the Lakers at home. I had a couple of pretty cool pump fakes. When we left the court, Bryant was doing an interview. For some reason Bryant leaned in The guy on the sideline and said ‘Yo, that guy is great,'” Curry told Evans.

“It’s the saddest thing in the world. Kobe Bryant is praising me, playing against each other for the first time. It’s amazing.”

Curry didn’t stop there. He went on to tell the story of the first time he saw Bryant’s “Mamba Mentality” up close as an opponent.

“The second time, we played a preseason game and Bryant went into Mamba Mentality in the first quarter,” Curry began.

“You turn around and he’s like this [polishing Kobe’s distinctive angry side]. He’s doing defensive moves, standing in front of me. I’m like, ‘What’s going on? ?Kobe Bryant is so weird’.

“So Bryant followed me for about four or five like a ball, then he bumped into me and I almost lost my balance. I was really breathing at this point. I was tired, trying to get my form back in A pre-season fight, and he would just go all in on defensive pressure and he would be a lot bigger and stronger than me, bumping into me and doing all that.

“So after I fell, I understood I had no other choice, I just tried to throw the ball and learn to live with it. Then I tried to throw a shot about 30 feet away and success, then I relax and go back. It’s something to be very proud of ‘let’s hold on to the great moment because it’s Kobe, I just handled one from 30 feet against Kobe Bryant,’ Curry laughed. speak.

“He picked me up for a refreshing rush on the way back and I couldn’t even get that, I just threw it away and Bryant acted like it. I came back right after halftime and said to the employee, “I need that clip. Take me away. I had to save it to my phone,'” Curry said with a laugh.

Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, who found both videos Curry was talking about and paired them with the Twitter interview.

I dug up the videos from Stephen Curry’s stories about Kobe Bryant https://t.co/Ciyf8FJl2B pic.twitter.com/oteAi6cKX6

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) July 27, 2023

Finally, Curry brings up Evans’ “Baby Faced Assassin” reference to open the story.

“The third time was Bryant breaking the killer record that I hid behind a smile,” Curry said passionately.

“Bryant loves to joke around and playing with him makes you laugh a lot, you’re often fooled by his inner killer and the competitive spirit he has.

“To play against someone who acknowledges you like that – especially he doesn’t give compliments like that – it’s really special, for sure.”

Even as one of the greatest players in NBA history, Curry isn’t too proud to admit what it means to receive praise from one of the most influential icons the sport has ever seen. .

You can watch Curry’s full interview on “Hot Ones” below.