Ex-Laker Samaki Walker says Kobe Bryant punched him over $100
Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Samaki Walker told the “Brown and Scoop” podcast on Play.it that Kobe Bryant once punched him after Walker failed to pay up for a $100 bet in 2002.
Walker said the Lakers players would put down $100 each in a pot on whoever could make a half-court shot first. After a road trip to Cleveland, Bryant won the half-court contest one day and Walker expected that he would have 48 hours to pay up his share of the pot.
“It wasn’t even 48 hours, Kobe comes to me on the bus, asking me where his $100 is, believe it or not,” Walker said. “Out of all the people, he chose me, which is still to this day puzzling. I told him, ‘Man, I don’t have no $100 on me right now. First of all, why are you coming at me for $100?’ With that being said, I put my earphones back on, and once I put my earphones back on, the most amazing thing happened. Kobe, he sucker punched me.”
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The hit resulted in a black eye. Walker asked head coach Phil Jackson to stop the bus and wanted to take the fight outside before Bryant declined. Jackson called it an isolated incident between Walker and Bryant and nothing drastic.
Classic photos of Kobe Bryant
Rare Photos of Kobe Bryant
Walker went to add that he and Kobe are still friends.