Lou Williams witnessed firsthand Kobe Bryant’s intensity, which was present even toward the end of his career. He retold one incident that defined that during his recent appearance on The Big Podcast with Shaq. Williams and Shaquille O’Neal are well-versed with that Mamba Mentality. Some Los Angeles Lakers youngsters, though, weren’t prepared for it.

Williams suited up in Purple and Gold from 2015 to 2017. Bryant would retire in 2016 but was far from slacking. Shaq asked, “Is it true he came in the locker room and everybody that was wearing his shoes, like, he took them back?” Williams confirmed that indeed, Kobe, “cleaned that s**t out.” 

Comedian Bill Bellamy, who was on the show, and Shaq laughed in disbelief but Williams reiterated it was true. Before that, Shaq gloated he provoked Kobe with snide commentary. That gave Williams ammunition to claim, “I got the product of him [O’Neal] constantly smacking him on his head.”

Perfectionist Bryant ran the locker room like a tight ship. After losing a game, Williams recalled Bryant ranting at his teammates, “From now on out, I touch the ball every time down the court. Y’all going to learn what it’s like to play with Kobe Bean F***ing Bryant.” In that same rant, Bryant confiscated any Nike Kobes in the players’ lockers. “He went down the line one at a time and told everybody what the f**k was wrong with him.”

That prompted Shaq to smugly comment, “You know who he got it from, right?” Williams confidently pointed at Shaq and the big dictator answered, “Exactly.” Williams, along with Metta Sandiford-Artest and Brandon Bass fortunately got to keep their dignity. But not their sneakers.

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Kobe Bryant one-upped Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal is a taskmaster but even he didn’t do what Bryant did. Williams said that after pointing out everyone’s mistakes, the equipment manager came in to collect the sneakers straight out of the lockers into a bucket. He even coolly passed the message, “Kobe said he didn’t want y’all wearing his shoes ’cause y’all motherf******s soft.” 

Hilariously, Carlos, the equipment manager, went beyond Nike Kobes. Williams’ Peak sneakers and Nick Young’s Adidas kicks were also lost, leaving both “crying-laughing” at the turn of events.

When he recalled the same episode on Paul George’s podcast in 2023, Williams said, a retiring Bryant threatened, “When I’m in the front office next year, I’m trading all you motherf******.” In some ways, Shaq created a monster that the Black Mamba dialed to a 100. Do you think he deserves credit or was it all Kobe?

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