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Coach K Reflects On The Favor Kobe Bryant Asked For at the 2007 Vegas Training Camp

14 May 2008: Guard Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers ties his Nike shoes while sitting next to teammate Jordan Farmar before the Lakers 111-104 victory over the Utah Jazz in game 5 of NBA Western Conference Semifinals at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA.

On the latest episode of “The Dream Team Tapes: Kobe, LeBron & The Redeem Team‬” is a gem of  a story about Kobe Bryant.  This week features inside moments and anecdotes from Chris Bosh, Deron Williams, Coach K, Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony and more as they reflect on their first full experience training camp together as a team during the summer of 2007. During the episode, Coach K also shares some memorable interactions with LeBron and Kobe including the time Kobe showed up two days early in Vegas to share his defensive philosophy for the 2008 games and demand Coach K let him guard the best player on every team in the tournament!

Coach K on the surprise visit he received from Kobe in Vegas, two days before players were scheduled to show up and the promise Kobe made to him that day. (36:34 – 37:34)

“Two days before we started meeting for that team, we were in Vegas as a staff and were planning. Then all of a sudden there was a knock on the door and it’s Kobe. He’s there 2 days early! Again, I’m not embellishing this at all, he [Kobe] said ‘Coach I’d like to talk to you for a little bit….he continued “I need for you to do me a favor’ and I said of course, what’s the favor and he [Kobe] said ‘I wanna guard the best perimeter player of very team we face….and I promise you, I’ll destroy them!’”

Listen below:

That’s the Mamba mentality for you. Kobe was truly one of a kind.


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