Brandon Roy’s Favorite Memory of Kobe Bryant // Michael Porter Jr
00:00:00.000 | I would say my favorite Kobe story was when I was in Portland, and we had a win streak
00:00:07.280 | against the Lakers in the Rose Garden.
00:00:10.860 | So I got hurt, and leading up into this game, Kobe sprains his ankle.
00:00:17.800 | I wouldn't say it then, but I used to watch Laker games, just as much as playing, it's
00:00:21.800 | like, "All right, now I gotta record a DVR of my Laker games," 'cause Kobe was still
00:00:26.160 | my favorite player, but I didn't want anybody to think that he had an edge on me because
00:00:29.120 | I did like him so much as a player.
00:00:31.880 | So we're getting ready for the game, and they asked me, "Am I gonna play?"
00:00:35.280 | And I was just like, "Nah, I'm just not ready yet.
00:00:37.560 | I think it's my hamstring," and Kobe was like, "Gonna play if I was gonna suit up, he was
00:00:44.760 | gonna play."
00:00:45.760 | And I was like, "No way, he hurt his ankle too bad."
00:00:47.520 | So if you was gonna play, he was gonna play?
00:00:48.760 | He was gonna play, yes.
00:00:49.760 | How did you know that?
00:00:50.760 | Yeah, so we'll get to it.
00:00:52.680 | So long story short, they ended up scratching Kobe, and they're like, "All right, he's not
00:00:57.120 | gonna play."
00:00:58.120 | They do that stuff on ESPN, and then our little pack is like, "We don't know if he's gonna
00:01:02.600 | play or not, so we're gonna prepare as if he is and go over to Kobe's sets and how they're
00:01:07.680 | gonna play."
00:01:08.680 | So I was like, "Nah, I'm still about a week away."
00:01:12.280 | So I put it out there early, and then he's obviously in the other locker room.
00:01:18.000 | We know he's in the arena, every camera follows a man.
00:01:21.480 | So I'm in the training doing all my stuff, and then I go back to the locker room, and
00:01:24.640 | I had a friend of mine, Chuck, he works with Nike, and then he worked with Kobe.
00:01:29.440 | I was like, "Is Kobe gonna play?"
00:01:31.600 | And he was like, "If you play, he's playing."
00:01:34.040 | I'm like, "I'm not playing."
00:01:35.040 | He was like, "All right."
00:01:36.040 | He said, "Nah, I don't think he's gonna play."
00:01:37.040 | So I was like, "All right, cool."
00:01:38.040 | I said, "Ask Kobe when the team's about to warm up, can I come down and say what's up?"
00:01:45.000 | He was like, "All right."
00:01:46.300 | So long story short, Chuck didn't come back in the first quarter, so he came back in the
00:01:51.200 | second quarter.
00:01:52.200 | And he was like, "Kobe said, 'Yeah, come down there, but wait 'til the team's go out and
00:01:55.720 | come after halftime.'"
00:01:56.720 | So I was like, "For real?"
00:01:59.340 | So I'm getting all nervous.
00:02:00.600 | I played against him, but we never talked during the game.
00:02:03.840 | He'd just be going at me.
00:02:05.200 | So I was like, "For real?"
00:02:06.800 | He was like, "Yeah."
00:02:07.800 | He said, "Come down, but let the teams go out."
00:02:10.960 | So I'm like, "All right."
00:02:12.680 | So the teams, Nate come in and give his speech, both teams go out, and I'm walking up to the
00:02:17.360 | locker room.
00:02:18.360 | I'm like, "Damn, so what I'm gonna say to Kobe?"
00:02:20.040 | So I'm all nervous, and I walk all the way down the hallway.
00:02:22.940 | And then I get to the door, and I'm kind of listening in, and I tap to knock on the locker
00:02:27.600 | room door.
00:02:28.600 | And the trainer was like, "Who is it?"
00:02:29.600 | And I peek in my head, and I was like, "Oh, it's B-Roy."
00:02:33.320 | And Kobe was laying on the table.
00:02:35.680 | He was fully dressed, he had his whole warm-ups on and everything, and he was laying on the
00:02:41.000 | table getting stretched.
00:02:42.520 | And the dude was doing something to his ankle.
00:02:46.120 | So I'm like, "Oh, man."
00:02:47.120 | I was like, "Kobe."
00:02:48.200 | And he hops up off the table, and he's like, "B-Roy, come here."
00:02:53.480 | And I went to dap him, and he gave me a bear hug.
00:02:56.380 | And I was just like, "Yes, it's Kobe."
00:02:58.760 | And then I loosened up, and he's like, "How you doing, man?"
00:03:02.720 | So I ended up sitting down, he's laying on the table, I sit in the little locker, and
00:03:07.760 | we ended up sitting there talking and joking the whole second half of the game.
00:03:13.080 | And that was, for me, not just because of his passing, but that was like, "Damn, I'm
00:03:18.640 | meeting my idol, and I get to hang out with him."
00:03:22.880 | And talking.
00:03:23.880 | Man, I asked him everything under the sun.
00:03:26.000 | I was like, "So how's your and Michael Jordan's relationship?"
00:03:28.520 | He's like, "Me and Mike's cool."
00:03:30.360 | I'm like, "Oh, yeah, that's cool."
00:03:33.120 | But most people, I always try to look at it like, I'm in the NBA, but I'm still a fan
00:03:37.680 | of it.
00:03:38.800 | So I asked stuff that I think my dad would.
00:03:42.960 | We wanted to know, "How does Kobe tie his shoes?"
00:03:46.680 | All that stuff was cool.
00:03:47.960 | And then I even joked, "So you really was gonna play?"
00:03:49.640 | He was like, "Yeah, you was gonna play."
00:03:50.640 | I was like, "Damn, you are dressed."
00:03:51.640 | How old was you at this time?
00:03:55.640 | Man, that was my third year in the league.
00:04:00.640 | So I made the All-Star Game my second year, and it was in New Orleans.
00:04:05.200 | But Kobe didn't play, 'cause he had a bad thumb.
00:04:08.840 | And we really didn't talk much.
00:04:10.680 | I was in awe then of him.
00:04:12.840 | We had a few different things where we all did it together as a team.
00:04:16.720 | But I remember getting on a bus, and it's like, "Damn, it's Tim Duncan."
00:04:19.720 | You're in the West, they're going mellow, it's like all these great players.
00:04:23.880 | Iverson's on the team, Shrafty, the next, Shaq's on the team.
00:04:28.000 | So it's like all these dudes are idolized, but then it was like, "Okay, where's Kobe?"
00:04:31.680 | I'm all sitting on the bus, pacing the way, "Where's Kobe getting on the bus?"
00:04:34.440 | So then Kobe comes, and cameras follow, you get on the bus, I'm like, "Yeah, that's Kobe."
00:04:38.520 | So no, it was cool, but we didn't really have a one-on-one conversation.
00:04:44.280 | I was playing well in New Orleans, and he was like, "Man, stop being nice, man, stop
00:04:48.040 | being passive.
00:04:49.040 | You can go be MVP."
00:04:50.040 | And I'm like, "MVP at an All-Star Game?
00:04:52.120 | Yeah, right."
00:04:53.120 | And he was telling me to do it, and I was like, "Man, all right, we'll see."
00:04:57.640 | But that was kind of the most of our interactions at that point.
00:05:00.620 | So then that next year, like I said, he didn't play.
00:05:02.760 | That's when I was able to sit down and have a real long conversation with him.