Usually fierce rivals but All-Star teammates — Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett had an interesting bond. Both entered the NBA straight from high school with one season’s gap. Apart from this, both the players have been known to have a burning competitive spirit. So it was only natural for them to understand each other despite mostly being on rival teams. And it was this understanding that helped Bryant during his first All-Star game in 1998.

Appearing on a recent episode of Club 520 Podcast, Garnett recalled Bryant being super intense when he first met him. But during the 1998 All-Star game, KG recalled the Black Mamba seeming nervous. Bryant was set to face some big names, including his idol Michael Jordan in his first All-Star appearance.

So the responsibility to hype up his seemingly nervous teammate fell on Garnett. “It’s actually a clip. They don’t play the whole clip, but they play a piece of like, ‘Yeah, m*****f*****r, we at the All-Star game, ni***… You ready, ni***, we here now… we here now… Get your a** up… We going at this…. We get out here. I’m looking for you. Be ready,'” KG recalled on the podcast. Notably, Garnett had already made one All-Star appearance in 1997, during Kobe’s rookie season.

The 15x All-Star’s motivation seemed to work for the Black Mamba as he emerged as the second-highest scorer from the game with 18 points. The highest scorer was Michael Jordan with 23 points, claiming the All-Star MVP award. He also led his team Eastern Conference All-Stars to a 135-114 win. But Bryant surely displayed impressive gameplay.

This gameplay included a memorable sinking of an alley-oop set up by Garnett himself. “… I just put it right in the middle of the rim… This n*** jumps so m*****f******g high… I watched it from my perspective… So I watched him just blew. He dunked that m*****f******,” Garnett recalled. This wasn’t the first time they had met, though.

Kobe Bryant’s bond with Kevin Garnett: “Going to dedicate a son to Kobe“

During an episode of the Stephen A. Smith Show, Garnett recalled meeting Bryant when they both were kids. He claimed on the show he saw when Bryant was nervous — a human being. “We were gullible about [the NBA] and we wanted it so bad. That was my bro,” he added.

This comes despite the fact both the players not only played on rival teams but were fierce rivals themselves during the 2008 to 2010 period. The Black Mamba had time and again stated his regret over losing to the Boston Celtics in 2008 and to the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

In 2008, it was the popular trio of KG, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen that crushed the LA Lakers in the Finals. But Kobe not only won the championship the next year but also in 2010, getting his revenge on the Celtics in the 2010 Finals.

But it seems the feeling of mutual respect was never lost between Bryant and Garnett. “I miss Kobe every day, man… We celebrate him like he’s still alive and I love that … When I have another son someday, I don’t know when and where, but I’m going to dedicate a son to Kobe,” Garnett said on Smith’s show. Considering the 15x All-Star got divorced in 2022 itself, the possibility of this in the near future is less likely.