Lakers News: Kings Guard Tyrese Haliburton Learned to Appreciate Kobe Bryant Over Time
During the 2000s when kids were growing up, the discussion of the better player between LeBron James vs Kobe Bryant was hotly contested. This was a highly polarizing topic, as many people proclaimed that you had to either like one and hate the other. It was truly a shame neither ended up playing against each other in the Finals throughout their storied careers.
Sacramento Kings young phenom Tyrese Haliburton is no exception to this debate. He has always been a James fan growing up, and that meant he loathed Bryant.
During a recently podcast appearance on the “Deuce and Mo” podcast with Deuce Mason and Morgan Ragan, Haliburton talked about his hatred for Bryant growing up.
"For me, it was LeBron my whole life. All the jerseys. I had the Fathead, the big poster thing of the big signature tomahawk dunk. I had everything. What's crazy to think about is, because of the LeBron-Kobe debate, as a kid I was anti-Kobe. Like, I knew how good he was, but he was obviously the main threat to LeBron. My mom used to always make Nike runs and go to the store and bring home Kobe stuff, like t-shirts, shorts. I'm like 'Mom, I don't want it. Don't even give it to me.' I started to wear his shoes as I got older, but clothes, I couldn't wear them."
The fact the former Iowa State product refused to wear any Kobe gear shows how stubborn he was with the principle of siding with one and hating the other. As the Kings guard grew up and became a basketball star himself, he started appreciating Kobe’s greatness and even admitted Bryant was the most talented player ever in his opinion.
“As I got older, I started to appreciate [Bryant] more. Now he's gone, but I've learned to appreciate him more as I've gotten older. I truly believe he's the best player to ever touch a basketball, most talented, I think so. But as a young kid, I never would have said that."
Haliburton was in the running for Rookie of the Year last season, and did get to go toe to toe against his childhood idol James once. With how great he looks on the court, he even admitted he wasn’t nervous at all when he went up against the King.
"It was a cool moment to be on the same floor as him. My mom called me after the game and was like 'I thought you were going to be so nervous.' 'Nah mom, it's the end of the year, I've played against almost everybody now, so it's not like that anymore."
Haliburton will get to match up against James for the second time at Staples Center on November 26.
