Los Angeles Lakers Great Kobe Bryant Avoided Rookie Hazing Because of Jerry Buss
Most NBA rookies dealt with some sort of hazing during their first seasons.
The list, however, did not include former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. He avoided with the help of Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who instructed players not to haze Bryant when he was a rookie in 1996.
During an interview with VladTV, former NBA player Gilbert Arenas detailed how Shaquille O'Neal told him the story. The subject surfaced while speaking about Kyrie Irving and Mark Cuban with the Dallas Mavericks.
“Mark Cuban is like Jerry Buss when he had the Lakers," Arenas said. "Magic Johnson is his guy, Kobe is his guy. People don’t realize. When Kobe got drafted, Jerry Buss told Shaq and the Lakers ‘he’s off limits, you cannot haze him. There’s no rookie hazing him. F*ck off’… That’s the type of future they seen in him, protecting him all the time”.
Buss probably gave Bryant special treatment because of the circumstances. Bryant entered the NBA straight from high school. It was a way of easing him into a pressure environment.
Everything worked out because Bryant helped the Lakers win five championships in his 20-year career. He retired as one of the greatest players in league history.
Sadly, Bryant was killed in a helicopter accident in 2020, a year before he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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