The Black Mamba bid the most Kobe-style goodbye to the basketball court back in 2016. Sending fans into hysteria, Kobe Bryant scored 60 points in his last game against the Utah Jazz. Then-Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell recently described that he hasn’t been able to bring himself to rewatch the game. Despite wanting to spend more time with his hero, and while it remains an important and unforgettable moment in his life, he remembers it differently than most. 

After being questioned about Kobe’s last game, DLo revealed that everyone wanted Kobe to go for it. Even the fans in attendance at the Staples Center were booing everyone on the Lakers bar Bryant, only wanting the Black Mamba to have the ball. “It was really us running around trying to get him the ball,” Russell stated on the Run Your Race podcast. However, what he revealed next might come as a shock.

“I never rewatched it. I still never. It’s a few games I just never rewatched, bro, and I don’t know why. Like that game, playoffs in Philly, I never rewatched those games when we lost. I don’t know why I don’t feel like I could sit through them. (It) just eat me up. Never watched Arizona when we lost in the tournament. We supposed to beat them boys,” Russell shared.

As many might remember, numerous A-list celebrities were present at the game, such as Snoop Dogg, Beyonce, Kanye West, and Jay-Z. Los Angeles Lakers legends Magic Johnson and Bryant’s former teammate Shaquille O’Neal were also present to cheer for him. 

There were also a few more games that Russell talked about, saying they are hard to rewatch, including his Brooklyn Nets’ elimination at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019 playoffs and Ohio State’s March Madness loss to Arizona. Russell was more of an “Anti-Kobe” guy until he met the 5x NBA champ himself and things changed for him.

D’Angelo Russell wanted to spend more time with Kobe Bryant 

DLo joined the Lakers when Kobe was gearing up to leave the league and didn’t get to face the tougher and more competitive version of Kobe, as his teammates told him, but he was able to learn a lot. 

Russell admitted that as a rookie, he was “naive” and didn’t fully grasp what Kobe had taught him about the game. Nine years into his career, he understands Kobe’s words and now feels regret. He once detailed his wish that he could have spent more time with the NBA legend.

“When you’re young and watching these guys, you think they’re going to be around forever. And then, when they’re on the way out, you don’t know how to handle it,” Russell said in an interview in 2019. After two seasons, Russell was traded to the Brooklyn Nets, and back in 2023, he joined the Purple and Gold again.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.