Kobe Bryant instilled fear in his opponents. From his demeanor on the court to the way he approached every possession, it is safe to say that guarding Bryant was similar to getting stranded on an island with no hope of anyone saving you. It was you against him, trying to stand your ground against the Black Mamba. But one of the few players who was credited with having found ways to contain him was Shane Battier. With his iconic hand-to-the-face technique, he made life a bit hard for Bryant, or so he thought.

In a recent episode of a podcast, Shane Battier talked about his experience guarding Kobe Bryant in his rookie season. Although Battier tried his best, the Black Mamba mercilessly took him to the ‘Kobe Island’.

The terror of guarding Kobe Bryant

Both Bryant and Battier are of the same age, but since Battier stayed in college, he joined the NBA when he was 23 years old. After getting drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, who were on the lookout for potential match winners on the roster at the time, Battier was given the opportunity to play 40 minutes every game in his rookie season.

Battier took on the challenge of guarding the shooting guards most nights. He was doing good for himself until one day he had to go up against Kobe Bryant. That’s when he realized the truth behind the ‘Kobe island’.

Battier said on the Knuckleheads podcast, “I learned what the Kobe island is. Kobe Island is when you are guarding Kobe Bryant and you turn around and you got no help side defense. So you are on an island“.

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Kobe Bryant went on a scoring rampage. Battier said that Bryant scored 63 points against him in three quarters and sat out the fourth quarter. Since it has been over two decades, Battier got some details wrong, as it was 56 points in 34 minutes. The game ended with a 39-point win for the Lakers.

Bryant was feared by the defenders. He would take you on 1-on-1 and score on you, leaving you stranded without any help. However, Battier, during his time, developed a technique that he used to contain Kobe Bryant. But little did he know that the legend saw right through him.

Kobe saw right through Battier

Shane Battier had his technique of guarding Bryant by having his hand hover right in front of the Black Mamba’s face in order to block his vision. But another thing that he did to get an advantage was to downplay his own passion for the game.

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Battier always made it seem like he was just happy to be on the same court as the NBA greats. He wanted to trick his opponents into thinking that he was just another guy who was defending Kobe Bryant. But the late basketball legend saw right through this. In his book Mamba Mentality, he revealed that he understood what Shane Battier was doing, and this made him play extra hard when going up against him during games.

What do you think of the ‘Kobe Island’ phenomenon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!