back to indexBrandon Roy’s Favorite Memory of Kobe Bryant // Michael Porter Jr
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I would say my favorite Kobe story was when I was in Portland, and we had a win streak 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 00:00:31.880 |
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. 00:00:37.520 |
I think it's my hamstring," and Kobe was like, "Gonna play if I was gonna suit up, he was 00:00:45.760 |
And I was like, "No way, he hurt his ankle too bad." 00:00:52.680 |
So long story short, they ended up scratching Kobe, and they're like, "All right, he's not 00:00:58.120 |
You know, they do that stuff on ESPN, and then our little pack is like, "We don't know 00:01:03.880 |
So we're gonna prepare as if he is and go over to Kobe sets and how they're gonna play. 00:01:08.600 |
So I was like, "Nah, I'm still about a week away." 00:01:12.260 |
So I put it out there early, and then he's obviously in the other locker room. 00:01:18.040 |
We know he's in the arena, every camera follows a man. 00:01:21.440 |
So I'm in the training, doing all my stuff, and then I go back to the locker room. 00:01:24.560 |
And I had a friend of mine, Chuck, he works with Nike, and then he worked with Kobe. 00:01:36.920 |
He said, "Nah, I don't think he's gonna play." 00:01:38.920 |
I said, "Ask Kobe when the team's about to warm up, can I come down and say what's up?" 00:01:46.320 |
So long story short, Chuck didn't come back in the first quarter, so he came back in the 00:01:52.440 |
And he was like, "Kobe said, 'Yeah, come down there, but wait 'til the team's go out and 00:02:00.600 |
I played against him, but we never talked during the game, he'd just be going at me. 00:02:08.520 |
He said, "Come down, but let the teams go out." 00:02:12.680 |
So the teams, Nate come in and give his speech, both teams go out, and I'm walking up the 00:02:17.360 |
locker room, 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, and then I get to the door 00:02:24.200 |
and I'm kind of listening in, and I tap to knock on the locker room door, and the trainer 00:02:30.000 |
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, and he was fully dressed, he had his whole warm-ups on, 00:02:40.920 |
He was laying on the table getting stretched, and the dude was doing something to his ankle. 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, and I was just like, "Yes, it's Kobe." 00:02:59.280 |
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. 00:03:13.120 |
And that was, for me, not just because of his passing, but that was like, "Damn, I'm 00:03:18.660 |
meeting my idol, and I get to hang out with him." 00:03:22.880 |
It talked, and I asked him everything under the sun, I was like, "So how's your Michael 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 00:03:42.960 |
We wanted to know, "How does Kobe tie his shoes?" 00:03:47.680 |
And then I even joked, "So you really was gonna play?" 00:04:00.640 |
So I made the All-Star game my second year, and it was in New Orleans, but Kobe didn't 00:04:13.200 |
We had a few different things where we all did it together as a team, but I remember 00:04:17.560 |
getting on a bus and it's like, "Damn, it's Tim Duncan." 00:04:19.680 |
You're in the West, they're going mellow, it's like all these great players. 00:04:23.720 |
Iverson's on the team, Shrafty, the next year, Shaq's on the team. 00:04:27.960 |
So it's like all these dudes are idolized, but then it was like, "Okay, where's Kobe?" 00:04:31.640 |
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, 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. 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 like most of our interactions at that point. 00:05:00.640 |
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.