Stephen Curry once tried to get in Kobe Bryant's head as a rookie
There were plenty of people who tried to distract, intimidate or break the Los Angeles Lakers legend. But Bryant always managed to withstand them and remain in one piece while continuing to do his thing.
When Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors was a rookie during the 2009-10 season, he tried to gently get in Bryant's head when the latter was shooting free throws. But by his own admission, it didn't work (h/t Ahn Fire Digital).
'It was a game at home at Oracle, and they were winning, and I think they were up like six or something like that down the stretch, and we were starting to do the foul game,' Curry said. 'And when he was going to the line, I just walked by and was like, 'Yo, you nervous?'
'And the look he gave me was one I will just, is burned into my, like, 'One, he's a rookie talking to me, but two, am I nervous? What are you talking about?'
'I low-key expected him to do the [Michael] Jordan thing and walk up there and shoot them…eyes closed and then look at me, like, '[Dikembe] Mutombo, this is for you.' I think that's what Jordan said.
'But the look he gave me said it all. It was like, 'Yo, you just got here. Relax.''
Curry said that Bryant made those free throws he was referring to.
Back then, Bryant was still arguably the best player in basketball, and he was still in the process of collecting championship rings. That year, he won his final and quite possibly his most satisfying world title when the Lakers outlasted the Boston Celtics in seven games during the NBA Finals.
That was also the same season when Matt Barnes tried to fake an inbound pass in Bryant's face, but Bryant didn't flinch. Barnes would join the Lakers the following season with Bryant's full approval.
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