Lakers News: Kobe Bryant Olympic Teammate Reveals How He Approached Summer 2012
With the likes of AAU teams, offseason camps and trade demands at an all-time high across the game of basketball, the top players seem to grow tight-knit bonds from a young age.
Typically, the best players from the US have already played with or against their top competition multiple times by the time they reach the NBA and recall numerous stories about high school matchups. It is great to see so many young stars get to the top together but fans have also wondered if all this exposure and teaming up at a young age has hurt the game overall.
Damian Lillard and James Harden are just two examples of recent stars in the NBA that have not only demanded trades but to specific teams that are already very talented. Rewind to when Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was playing and even though LA always did what they needed to to get him help on his roster, there were very few stars in the league he associated himself with off the court.
The exception that the Black Mamba did make was for the Olympics as he suited up with America's top talent to bring home two gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
However, are you still wondering just how much Bryant despised being around his competition before he faced them? Take a listen to what his Team USA teammate Tyson Chandler had to say about when they attended a festival during the 2012 Olympics and players were present from other opposing squads.
"We're at the Olympics," said Chandler. "Me and Kobe would sit next to each other on the bus so we're getting off and we're going into the Olympic Village. Kobe was the star of the stars, he was that dude. Kobe was at a different level no matter where we went. We walked around for like 30-45 minutes and Kobe was sitting there fidgeting and quiet. I'm like 'What's up, killa.'"
(Via All The Smoke podcast)
"He's like 'Man I gotta get out of here, I can't be around all these athletes, got my blood boiling. I don't want them around me until I have to see them.'"
(Via All The Smoke podcast)
Few did it like the Black Mamba!
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