On May 29, 2000, Kobe Bryant was at the top of his game and on track to win an NBA championship. He had just hit a clutch shot in overtime against the Philadelphia 76ers with seconds left that allowed his team to come back from a 3-2 deficit for Game 7 victory.
Kobe Bryant Taunted His Own Lakers Teammates After Hitting a Clutch Shot in the 2000 NBA Finals: ‘They Didn’t Even Believe’. The Lakers won their first championship in 2000 and Kobe was able to hit a clutch shot. However, he taunted his own team mates after the shot because they didn’t believe it. Read more in detail here: lakers championships.
With the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant enjoyed one of the most successful careers in NBA history, but it wasn’t always easy for him. Even among his comrades, he had to gain everyone’s respect.
In fact, Jalen Rose, who played against Kobe in the 2000 NBA Finals, recently disclosed that after making a key shot in the Finals, Bryant ridiculed his teammates who doubted him.
Early in his NBA career, Kobe Bryant’s Lakers colleagues were not fond of him.
Before practice for Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. | Jeff Haynes/AFP via Getty Images
Kobe Bryant had an intensity about him early in his career, despite joining the NBA right out of high school. He remained to himself and attempted to imitate Michael Jordan as much as possible.
He was also very excellent.
Kobe averaged 17.6 points per 36 minutes in his first season, while only scoring 7.6 points a game. Even though he only averaged 15.4 points a game in his second year, that figure rose to 21.4.
While the future Hall of Famer demonstrated his skill by becoming an All-Star, his teammates took some time to appreciate him.
During the 1999-2000 season, during Phil Jackson’s first year as head coach, a team meeting regarding the triangle approach ended in numerous players assaulting Bryant, according to the book Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty. Jackson subsequently said that if the decision to trade Kobe had come down to a players-only vote, he would have likely walked away.
Later that season, though, Bryant proved all of those guys incorrect.
During the NBA Finals in 2000, Kobe mocked his teammates.
For the second time in his career, Kobe Bryant was named to the NBA All-Star team in 1999-2000. It was also the first of 17 consecutive choices for him.
Bryant scored 22.5 points per game for the Lakers that season, and he and Shaquille O’Neal led them to the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers in 2000.
Los Angeles led Indiana 2-0 in the series, but Bryant missed Game 3 due to an ankle injury, and the Pacers triumphed 100-91.
He did, however, come back for Game 4.
The Lakers and Pacers headed to overtime in that critical game. Shaq had a huge game, scoring 36 points and grabbing 21 rebounds, but he fouled out. Bryant subsequently had his “coming out celebration,” as former Pacers player Jalen Rose phrased it.
Bryant led the Lakers to a 120-118 victory by scoring 12 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. And Rose said that while driving his team to victory, Kobe was bickering with his team’s bench.
“I remember Phil hollering at Kobe, ‘Pass the ball,’ and I used to laugh. Move the ball around. On the Dec. 9 episode of All The Smoke, Rose remembered, “Get off of it.” “… I’m not sure what game he’s watching right now. Shaq also fouled out. Kob, Kob, Kob, Kob, Kob, Kob, Kob, Kob, Kob, Kob, Ko He got down to business on us.”
During Kobe’s takeover, he scored a jumper over Reggie Miller with roughly two minutes remaining in overtime to give Los Angeles a 114-111 lead. Bryant then walked to the other end of the court, pumping his arms downward after the shot.
The celebration was dubbed “get down, lie down” by Rose, although he said it wasn’t even meant at the Pacers. It was something Kobe was doing to his teammates.
He said, “Because they didn’t even believe in Kob.” ” When Kob was originally selected… Kob’s comrades were resentful of him. His teammates, to be exact. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
All those Lakers colleagues were incorrect about Kobe Bryant.
That wasn’t the first time Kobe Bryant showed his Lakers teammates how foolish they were.
The Black Mamba and Shaq led LA to three straight championships after shutting out the Pacers in six games during the series. However, after trading O’Neal to the Miami Heat during the 2003-04 season, Bryant took over as the starter.
From 2008 through 2010, Kobe led the Lakers to three more Finals appearances in a row. With him, they added two more titles to their collection.
Bryant noted on All The Smoke in January 2020, “I [knew] how to link the squad better.” “I didn’t have to with Shaq since he was the one who brought everyone together.” And he was still a tough negotiator, but he was the cheery one that brought everyone together. So I found out how to accomplish it, but in my own unique manner.”
When he was younger, there was a reason he wanted the ball in his hands so much. Kobe was well-aware of what he was doing.
When Kobe Bryant initially joined the league, he had conflicts with his Lakers colleagues, but he ultimately gained everyone’s respect and went on to become one of the best players of all time. Mamba is a legend in the NBA.
Basketball Reference provided the statistics.
RELATED: Kobe Bryant Scored the ‘Luckiest’ Game-Winner Ever Over an NBA Legend, and They Weren’t Even Angry: ‘If it had been anybody else, I would have ripped that locker room apart.’
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The “Who won nba finals 2020” is a question that many people have been wondering. The Los Angeles Lakers lost the 2000 NBA Finals to the Philadelphia 76ers, but Kobe Bryant’s clutch shot in Game 6 led his team back into contention for a title. Reference: who won nba finals 2020.
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