National Basketball Association

Mamba Memories: 17 Great Moments in Kobe

Published Feb. 17, 2015 3:00 p.m. ET

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Brett Smiley

He's brash, bold, brutally honest, cold-blooded, cocky, wry and possessed. Critics and admirers alike have called Kobe Bryant a lot of things during his 19 seasons in the NBA.

Bryant has also said and done a lot of amusing things, including in his abbreviated 2014-2015 campaign when he dropped a sarcastic "festively jovial" line and said in November of his rising number of shot attempts: "I'd rather not have to do that, but you can't just sit back and watch crime happen in front of you."

Even in the face of a season-ending shoulder injury for a torn rotator cuff, Bryant had a great line:

I don't think we've heard the last of Kobe Bryant on the hardwood, meantime, let's look back at some of the best Black Mamba moments (in no particular order).

1. ON THE MEANING, TO HIM PERSONALLY, OF WINNING A FIFTH CHAMPIONSHIP (2010)

2. KOBE LIVE-TWEETS A VIEWING OF HIS 2006 81-POINT GAME AGAINST THE RAPTORS (2013)

Seven years later, Bryant thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle, as we all enjoyed watching him enjoy his own performance.

3. KOBE WON’T LET UP ON MICHAEL JORDAN IN HIS AIRNESS’S FINAL ALL-STAR GAME (2003)

Usually players don’t exert much energy on defense during All-Star games (hence the 163-158 score this year), but not so for Kobe Bryant in 2003 when attempting to assert dominance over a 40-year-old Michael Jordan. In the highlight reel, watch Kobe stick MJ like glue and block him late in the fourth quarter. Mamba knows no mercy. Then in overtime, after it looked like the game would end on Jordan's heroic fadeaway shot over Shawn Marion with under five seconds, Bryant drew a foul with one second remaining. He hit two of three free-throws, forcing a second overtime in which Bryant and the West prevailed.

4. A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE, KOBE-STYLE

“I almost won an MVP with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown on my team,” Kobe told the OC Register in 2012, reminiscing about the lackluster Lakers supporting cast in 2005-2006. I was shooting 45 times a game. What was I supposed to do? Pass it to Chris Mihm or Kwame Brown”

Kobe with Smush Parker.

“[Smush Parker is] the worst” Bryant added. “He shouldn’t have been in the NBA but we were too cheap to pay for a point guard. So we let him walk on.”

5. KOBE DUBS HIMSELF “BLACK MAMBA”

Kobe adopted the nickname of the Black Mamba after watching the lethal snake execute a villain in Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill 2.”

“I read up on the animal and said, ‘Wow, this is pretty awesome,” Bryant explained to The New Yorker. “This is a perfect description of how I would want my game to be.”

"The mamba can strike with 99% accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession,” he told the L.A. Times in 2008. “That's the kind of basketball precision I want to have."

6. BRYANT’S RESPONSE TO STEVE NASH’S THREE-WORD DESCRIPTION OF HIM

This anecdote via Sports Illustrated arose during the filming of an upcoming (Feb. 21) Showtime documentary about Bryant, “Kobe Bryant’s Muse,” by director Gotham Chopra:

7. KOBE DOESN’T GIVE A **** WHAT YOU THINK (2012)

The Nash item dovetails nicely with this one. After shooting 9-25 and 18-18 at the free throw line in a Game 3 victory in the 2012 conference semifinals against the Thunder, an eventual 4-1 series win for Oklahoma City, Bryant said of his critics:

Now in the twilight of his storied career, Bryant has paused for some reflection of his evolution. "Ever since Colorado, I control my s**t” he explained of his 2003 sexual-assault case in a recent interview with GQ. “If I don't want to do something, I don't f***ing do it. Nobody is going to control my career or my life."

9. DON’T POKE THE BEAR, OR SHAKE THE TREE, OR, YOU KNOW, TICK OFF KOBE (2008)

Late in Game 2 of an opening-round series between the Lakers and Nuggets, J.R. Smith ran his mouth, as he tends to do. "Better learn not to talk to me," Bryant said of Smith's trash-talking. "You shake the tree, a leopard's gonna fall out."

Bryant scored 49 points and added 10 assists in a rout, en route to a 4-0 series sweep.  

10. THE POSE AND MUG AFTER HIS SLAM DUNK CONTEST-WINNING JAM (1997)

Watch the 18-year-old rookie throw down a Brandy-approved between-the-legs slam (at the 2:10 mark). Then he punctuated the dunk with a brash but semi-awkward flex followed by some mugging. Stick around (5:20) for Craig Sager in a pretty traditional suit interviewing Bryant.

11. THE FACEBOOK DIARY ENTRY AFTER HE TORE HIS ACHILLES TENDON (2013)

It’s simultaneously a raw and emotional and inspiring glimpse into the mind of one of the NBA’s greatest competitors after he suffered a devastating injury. A sample:

12. KOBE RESPONDS TO MARK CUBAN’S SUGGESTION THAT THE LAKERS SHOULD EXERCISE THE AMNESTY CLAUSE ON HIM (2013)

First Mamba spoke on the court by pouring 38 points (plus 12 rebounds and 7 assists) on Cuban’s Mavericks in a 103-99 win at Dallas, then he popped off on Twitter:

13. TEMECULA: A KOBE BRYANT CHRISTMAS STORY (2014)

We don’t go back very far for this one -- an unbelievable story about one man who aggressively defended Kobe Bryant’s honor on Twitter and then drove over 30 minutes on Christmas to fight the guy who said the Lakers would be better off without Bryant.

14. ON DWIGHT HOWARD’S EMOTIONAL RETURN TO ORLANDO (2013)

Kobe spends most of his basketball life locked in “rip your heart out” mode. There’s not much room for sentimentality. So when teammate Dwight Howard said his return to the Orlando Magic would be “emotional,” here’s how Kobe reacted: “Emotional?! I’ll talk to him,” Bryant said. “Just go out there and bust they ass. Show them what they’re missing. Save the emotional s— for when you retire.”

Kobe eventually softened on his position a little bit, before returning to his core beliefs.

Honorable mention: "I baptized him,” Kobe said of Howard in 2008. “I turned him into a defensive player."

15. THE LAST JOKE THAT COMMISSIONER DAVID STERN WANTED TO HEAR (2011)

16. METTA WORLD PEACE LOVES HIM SOME JELLY BEANS (2009)

Much of this rundown examines Kobe’s competitiveness and his own humorous words. Now let's take a look at Bryant's work ethic through the eyes of a couple former teammates. In 2009, the basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest tweeted about Bryant:

And Shaq wrote this in his book “Shaq Uncut: My Story”:

17. KOBE FACE (2011)

Follow The Buzzer on Facebook, where we hold onto hope that Kobe Bryant can defeat Father Time.

Kobe Byrant's Post Game Meltdown from Funny Or Die

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