Among many things that the iconic Kobe Bryant was, not many would know that he was also quite secretive. And we’re not talking about huge secrets over here, but even the minutest details of his life. Yep, even something as small as who his barber was. Now, this may sound paranoid to some, but the story has a hilarious tone to it when Corey Maggette tells it. More importantly, it reveals a lesser-known side of the Black Mamba‘s nature.

Appearing on the Basement Talk podcast, Corey revisited the time when he still had plenty of hair on his head. He further revealed he approached Rob (Robert Horry, it seems) to ask Kobe Bryant about his barber. And to Maggette’s surprise, Rob’s response was that he’d have to check it with Bryant first.

Yep, that’s how much the Black Mamba preferred keeping his stuff with him. “It was the craziest thing, bro. I couldn’t even get to his barber… He never gave me his barber’s information…” Maggette said. But it seems destiny wanted the ex-Clippers star to have an encounter with the man who groomed the Lakers icon.

Further in the podcast, Maggette revealed that he encountered a man in a church with a hairstyle that left him impressed. Any guesses on who it was? Yep, none other than the person whose identity Corey had been seeking–Kobe Bryant’s barber. And once it happened, even Bryant gave his approval of sorts. “I know you seen my barber… But it’s cool now. You can use him,” Maggette recalled Bryant’s words over a call. Makes you kind of curious who exactly this secret hair stylist was.

Well, it was none other than Celebrity Master Barber Julian Payne (the tag by which he goes on his official website). “… Julian was the trusted barber for the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant throughout his NBA career, handling his hair for all five of his championship wins,” reads the website. Now, it’s important to highlight that this was not the first instance that the secretive aspect of Bryant’s identity has come to light.

Kobe Bryant hid the fact he would jump from high school to the NBA from his own high school coach

Mike Sielski, author of The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality, shared an interesting tidbit about Kobe’s decision to jump straight from high school to the NBA. As per the revelations made by him, the 5x NBA champ kept his decision hidden from his own high school coach, Gregg Downer, despite their close bond.

This was a big step, considering the Lakers icon became only the 6th player to jump from high school to the NBA at the time. Appearing on an episode of The Woj Pod with Adrian Wojnarowski, Sielski highlighted how Kobe, known for his focus, was also incredibly good at keeping things under wraps.

“So one of the big themes in the book and one of the narrative phrases the fact that how few people knew after the summer of 1995 when he kind of realized that I can make the jump from high school to the NBA… He never told Gregg Downer explicitly… Gregg told me that and Kobe acknowledges in his tapes,” Sielski said. It’s clear that from such big steps to the minutest of details, Kobe Bryant preferred keeping his things to himself.