“You Can’t Tell Me That’s Not the Kobe Influence”: Former Clippers Star Hails Huge Praise on DeMar DeRozan for Playing Like the Lakers Legend Kobe Bryant

DeMar DeRozan is perhaps the best player on the Chicago Bulls team sitting on top of the Eastern Conference table. In a game moving towards a three-point shooting era, DeRozan remains one of the rare mid-range heavy players in today’s era. One of the greatest mid-range players, if not the greatest of all time was the legendary Kobe Bryant. The NBA world often credited him as the one who made basketball beautiful. Therefore, watching DeRozan mold his game like Kobe Bryant has the fans excited on the edge of their seats.

NBA experts including former players can clearly see Kobe’s influence on DeMar’s game. Jamal Crawford, the former Clippers guard, heaped huge praise on DeMar for studying Kobe’s tapes and modeling his game like Bryant’s. Crawford, who hosts NBA Hoopervision with Quentin Richardson, analyzed a few of DeRozan’s tapes on his shows. Subsequently, this is what he said about him.

Crawford appreciates how DeRozan took inspiration from Kobe Bryant

Watching the tape of DeMar DeRozan’s buzzer-beaters left Crawford in awe. His first response to watching the footage was “You can’t tell me that’s not the Kobe influence.” The crowd’s reaction in both the videos showed how mesmerized they were by DeRozan’s game.

“If you could hear the crowd’s reaction, it was like they were in Chicago,” Crawford said. “Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! When you watch him, you can see the Kobe influence. The midrange, the footwork… 

Richardson even added, “You can see his footwork and the reverse..in the end, a pump fake too? See that’s when you know it’s Kobe. Cause some people might do the one boom-boom… you know Kobe would throw three of them pump fakes at you.”

Also Read: DeMar DeRozan Channelizes Inner Michael Jordan on Question Over Bulls Fit: “We Took It Personally”

Crawford even pointed out in some mid-game footage how DeRozan reminds him of Kobe. He said, “That looked just like Kobe’s shot. You can’t tell me he didn’t study that, that’s crazy!..Look at his footwork, his footwork is all Kobe. You can see what he studies, his footwork is all Kobe.”

What does this mean for the Chicago Bulls?

The Chicago Bulls are facing the Wizards in a rematch of their last buzzer-beater win. Will DeRozan be able to lead the Bulls to a double over the Wizards? Can he channelize his inner Kobe Bryant and bring out his clutch gene once again? Let us know what you think about it.

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