As we transition towards the home stretch of the Kobe [Bryant] Farewell tour, NBA fans and former players have given plenty of praise on the illustrious career of the “Black Mamba.”
His competitive spirit, intensity and fire are just plenty of reasons why players valued him as a teammate. But there has been times where some decisions have been made and have to question why, Kobe, why? One proven case is this story told by former NBA player Olden Polynice. On the CBS Radio podcast Brown and Scoop, the former Kings forward told a story about how he had to break up a fight between Kobe and Shaq. Polynice went on and said,
“It was 2001 maybe and we were in LA, and I was trying out for different teams, trying to see who I was going to latch on with. I remember being at the Lakers facility when they were working out and he and Shaq got into it. I don’t know if you have ever heard the story about him and Shaq fighting in the gym.
They got into a fight. I was the one who broke it up. I had to grab Shaquille. This dude is too big for me to be holding on to. I tried to tell Kobe at the time, ‘Yo man, back up’ and he kept coming at him. I’m saying to myself, ‘Either he has a death wish or he doesn’t give a damn.’ After that, I said there’s something different about this kid than a lot of other people. He was not backing down from Shaquille at all.”
The real question asked was: what was the reason they was fighting? The answer is bizarre.
“It’s my team, no it’s my team. Seriously, that’s what it came down to. That’s what got the whole thing started. It was crazy. The reason I bring it up is because he had no fear and to me that was crazy. I was like, ‘Ya’ll need to break this up.’
There were punches thrown. All the punches missed. I think I caught more punches than they did. I stepped in there and Shaq grazed me and I wrapped him up and I’m holding on for dear life. Somebody ended up grabbing Kobe and that was it.”
Pretty interesting to say the least. I guess that will happen when you combine roughly all those MVP’s, championships and all star appearances in one locker room.