Draymond Green: Kobe Bryant’s Rare Error Turned into Most Humbling Moment for Warriors Star

The Los Angeles Lakers honored their legend, Kobe Bryant, by unveiling the first of his three upcoming statues last night. The pose of the statue was selected by Kobe himself before he passed away in 2020. He chose the image of his iconic walk-off with his hand held high after scoring a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006. While that was the moment Kobe chose to immortalize from his illustrious career, Warriors Center Draymond Green had a completely different moment as his favorite Kobe memory.

During his podcast, Draymond revealed his favorite Kobe memory, which was a personal in-game moment between him and the Lakers legend. Draymond reminisced about the time when he had to guard Kobe during a game-winning shot early in his career. With the score tied at 108-108 and only 5 seconds remaining, Kobe had a chance to win the game for the Lakers.

But he missed the final shot while Draymond was defending him, and the game went to overtime. Draymond was hyped after Kobe missed the shot and shouted in celebration. However, Kobe ruined Draymond’s celebration with one statement, “That ain’t have nothing to do with you young fella I just missed.” Draymond was humbled by Kobe’s comment and shared his experience on X, “Very memorable and humbling moment for Young Green.”

Even though that moment was not a highlight of Kobe’s Hall of Fame career, it showed Draymond how competitive Kobe was on the court. The Black Mamba did not let his opponents get any edge during games. Being a trash-talker himself, Draymond was also impressed by Kobe’s subtle trash talk that was enough to humble the Warriors Center.

Draymond Green’s favorite Kobe Bryant era

While discussing his favorite Kobe memory during The Draymond Green Show, the Warriors Center also revealed his favorite Kobe era. He compared Kobe’s Number 8 and Number 24 eras and picked the former as the more memorable one for him.

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Kobe’s Number 8 era was early in Draymond’s childhood, and he grew up idolizing that version of the Black Mamba. Draymond claimed Kobe was more fearless and did not care what anyone said when he was younger and wore the Number 8 jersey.

Draymond also revealed that Shaquille O’Neal was his favorite player of all time. So, he loved watching Shaq and Kobe dominate the league as a duo and win three straight championships from 2000 to 2002. The Warriors Center was also hyped about the two upcoming statues of Kobe. “They don’t love you like that,” Draymond added.

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