Kobe Bryant passed away in 2020, leaving behind one of the greatest and most impactful athletes’ careers in sports history.
Bryant left an indelible mark on the NBA, especially on the players who once looked up to him and shared a court with him.
Among them is Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green, who looked back at his greatest memory of Kobe Bryant in the NBA.
According to Green, during his podcast, his favorite moment was when Kobe told Green about being grounded after he missed a shot over him. Green also fondly remembers the 2016 NBA All-Star weekend, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar’s final one in his playing career.
Draymond Green’s Greatest Kobe Bryant Memory
Tasked with getting a crucial defensive stop against Kobe to potentially force overtime, Green watched Bryant miss a signature left-shoulder turnaround fadeaway. Afterward, Bryant delivered classic trash talk, letting Green know the miss had nothing to do with his defense
“I have several. His last All-Star Game in 2016 was incredible. But I especially think of that time when he said to me: ‘Kid, it had nothing to do with you. I just missed my shot.’ It was a great moment because it puts you back in your place. You think to yourself, ‘Damn,’” Green said.
“It also forces you to focus even more, to recenter yourself. It was that kind of interaction that earned you his respect. And I’ll always be grateful that I was able to reach out to him afterward, get a response, and ask him for advice.”
Kobe deeply inspired Green as a childhood fan and later shared a fierce, respectful competitive relationship in the NBA.
Green and Bryant played against each other multiple times during the NBA regular season.
When Green entered the NBA as a rookie with the Warriors in 2012, he often spoke on his podcast about being starstruck the first time he shared the floor with Bryant.
Kobe watched as the Warriors won the 2015 NBA championship, which started Golden State’s dynasty built on Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Kobe’s final season also saw the Warriors win a historic 73 wins in the regular season, before losing in the NBA Finals to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers after blowing a 3-1 lead.
Draymond Green Reveals Kobe Bryant’s Call That Changed His NBA Career
Draymond Green got candid about Kobe Bryant’s impact on his NBA career during an interview in 2020, shortly after the Lakers legend’s death.
Green said Kobe called him to share some wisdom about having a target on his back.
“2016 was probably the lowest point in my NBA career, where a chain of events just kind of almost took me down, too,” Green told reporters via SI. “Kobe reached out to me…It’s almost like crying to your older brother. Kob’, I don’t know what to do, these people trying to take me out, police trying to take me out, the media trying to take me out. Like everybody’s trying to take me out and I don’t know what to do. It just felt like my career was caving in on me.”
“To get that call, he told me, he said, ‘Draymond, 99 percent of the world is okay with mediocrity, or worse. But, at best, mediocrity. You’re chasing something so much bigger that, how do you ever expect anyone to understand?’ For me, that was all I needed to hear. Especially coming from a guy that I loved since I was a kid, that I have the utmost respect for, that I ended up building a relationship with. That meant the world to me. Kobe said f*** everybody, just f*** everybody. I was able to hold onto that and rally and just keep going.”
Green won a title with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, and lost in the 2019 NBA Finals. Green won another title in 2022, two years after Kobe’s death.
Green is still exemplifying that Mamba Mentality in the NBA today.
Warriors Star Reveals the Kobe Bryant Memory He’ll Never Forget