“I Was…Pretty Skinny”: Irked by Kevin Garnett’s Brutal Tactics, Kobe Bryant’s “Brother” Once Humbled Celtics Legend in Embarrassing Stint

The NBA has changed dramatically over the past few decades. From being able to hand-check your opponent from the three-point line to not being allowed to touch the opponent, the game has come a long way. Someone who has seen his fair share of physical gameplay in the league is this 2-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Being Kobe Bryant‘s brother on the court did him no favors when he went up against the mamba in the Olympics. Now, two years after his retirement, he talks about the time he went up against one of the most difficult players on the court.

Earning the respect of his competition

In a recent episode of The Skweek Show by Tony Parker, NBA legend Pau Gasol talked about having to prove himself as a young player in the league. He said one of his biggest tests was against Kevin Garnett. Garnett was drafted in 1995. He had been in the league for 6 years before Gasol ever stepped foot in the league.

Gasol was sitting with former NBA players like Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Jay Williams, and Tony Parker. That’s when he talked about his early days in the league. Gasol said, “When I first got in the league, I was pretty skinny“. This made the other players think he was an easy target. He said that people would usually shove him or elbow him when the referee was not looking.

Gasol said this was basically a test from the veterans in the league to see how he would react. Whether he would back down and let them have their way or stand up to them.

This led to him mentioning the time he went up against Garnett. Gasol said that Garnett was constantly trash-talking when they went up against him and occasionally gave him elbows.

This made Gasol want to earn his respect. To do so, when he got the ball, he went ahead and dunked it on him and his teammates. And after coming down, he bumped into Garnett on his chest on the way back up to the floor. He mentioned that one had to earn the respect of the players like this back in the day.

Facing Kobe Bryant in the Olympics

Team USA failed to win gold in the 2004 Olympics. So in 2008, the ‘redeem team’ was put together to guarantee the gold. Bryant and Gasol were teammates on the Lakers. Bryant didn’t want Gasol to get the wrong idea that they were brothers on the court when playing against each other. He wanted to show him that when they are up against each other, they were not brothers but only opponents.

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Kobe told his teammates that he would run through Gasol on the first play of the game. His teammates, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, said that there was no way he would do that. But he did just what he told her. He ran straight through Gasol on the first possession and brought him to the ground. This was a prime example of Kobe Bryant’s mamba mentality. Kobe and Gasol went on to win the NBA championship in 2009 and 2010.

With the league changing so much over the past few years, we don’t see players getting pushed around anymore. While some people like the faster-paced offensive gameplay, some old-school fans miss the physical game they grew up watching. Do you think the league is heading in the right direction with the new rules and transition to a less physical game style?

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