The NBA star late Kobe Bryant was renowned for his fierce competitiveness and determination. Bryant’s legacy is remarkable and his fans continue to pay tribute to date. Interestingly, there are numerous iconic games of Bryant wherein he displayed his extraordinary skills. However, amidst that, there is one game that became iconic for the opposite reason.
During Game 7 of the 2006 Playoffs against the Phoenix Suns, Bryant simply refused to shoot. This did not sit well with his fans as well as his opponent players. The Lakers star who was renowned for his performances and winning was out on the court avoiding shooting. Charles Barkley who is a legend himself decided to intervene and talk to Bryant about it.
On the NBA on TNT show, Barkley revealed that “I went off on him after the game. We’re all big Kobe Bryant fans but what he did that night was bullsh*t.” Furthermore, he spoke about how Bryant reacted to this and it made fans disappointed. “So he started texting me after the game, calling me every freaking name in the book,” Barkley disclosed.
He continued to talk about how this went on for a couple of hours over the texts. Despite Barkley‘s attempt to shift the conversation to call, Bryant continued to curse him. However, the story doesn’t end here – the Lakers star ended up accepting that he was wrong when the two saw each other next year. “That’s what I admire about Kobe. He says, ‘Chuck, you were right and I was wrong,” Barkley reminisced.
Kobe Bryant demanded the Lakers to make trade moves in an unusual way
Years after the game, Charles Barkley was the one who revealed the actual reason behind Kobe Bryant choosing not to shoot the ball. Turns out, Bryant was just trying to prove his point to his Lakers teammates and head coach by missing shots. This was his way of demanding the team to make trade moves in an unusual way to continue winning and being a celebrated team.
The Suns star disclosed, “He wouldn’t shoot the ball, I think he shot the ball one time in the second half. It was brutal. He was just trying to prove a point that he had no help.” This came as a surprise for everyone as Bryant has always been the celebrated player who would do anything to win. However, towards the end of the story, he did realize that he was wrong.
This also led the Lakers to understand that they needed to make the roaster better around Bryant so that he doesn’t have to lead single-handedly. In 2008, Pau Gasol joined the Lakers in an unusual trade move as they sent a few players such as Kwame Brown, and Javaris Crittenton, the rights to Marc Gasol, etc to Memphis. Remarkably, Gasol along with Black Mamba led the team to another championship proving it was all worth it.