“I Was Literally 7 Years in the League…”: Former NBA Star Reveals His Uncanny First Conversation With Kobe Bryant

Late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant inspired millions of people across the globe with his basketball prowess. Apart from his on-court skills, Bryant’s discipline and strong mentality drew a lot of young ballers’ attention toward him. Despite playing at the same level, a former NBA star looked up to him as a hero. Additionally, he recently revealed a riveting story about his first-ever conversation with the Black Mamba during an interview. 

The 5x NBA Champion had a reserved and tough personality compared to other flamboyant superstars in the league like Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Despite his tough personality, he never shied away from coaching the upcoming stars in the gym. Almost every star will have their own special Mamba memory ingrained in them. Similarly, this 43-year-old former star recently shared his Mamba memory. 

Former NBA star reveals his first interaction with Kobe Bryant

In a recent interview with FanDuel TV, former NBA star Jamal Crawford opened up about his first-ever interaction with Kobe Bryant. Even though Crawford has a much closer bond with Mamba’s family now, he had an uncanny first interaction with the legend. He hilariously said, “I was literally 7 years in the league before he even acknowledged me on the court.” In 2007, Crawford represented the New York Knicks and, during a game, he almost took his team home from a massive comeback from 55-37 down in the first half against Bryant’s Lakers. 

He revealed that the night before the close game he saw Bryant at a party, but sat across the room without uttering a single word. However, Kobe spoke to him the next day for the first time after being impressed by his scoring spree in the second half. He added, “First thing he said was, ‘You are hard as a pistol, huh? Here I come.’”

However, Crawford couldn’t take his team to victory as they fell short by 5 points in a 95-90 loss. He further narrated how Kobe came up to him and grabbed his head and said, “Good game, my brother.” 

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Since then, the former Knicks star has had his respects for the Lakers icon and his family, and he recently received a special gift from Vanessa Bryant.

Vanessa Bryant surprised Crawford with a special Mamba gift

Last month, Crawford took to his Instagram to showcase his special gift from Mamba and Mambacita Foundation. He received the latest Nike Kobe 4 Protro ‘Mambacita’ sneakers from Vanessa Bryant. Moreover, in the IG video, he mentioned that he would place the sneakers next to another pair of sneakers signed by Kobe Bryant himself. 

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What do you make of the interesting first-ever conversation between Jamal Crawford and Kobe Bryant? Let us know in the comments.