In a recent article with Chris Palmer of ESPN, Kobe Bryant had some amazing quotes. Whether it was him discussing his lack of MVP awards due to spending the first part of his career with Shaquille O’Neal, or discussing his desires to play Michael Jordan in a game of one on one, Kobe had all sorts of fantastic quotes.
My personal favorite? His thoughts on Tracy McGrady.
I played T-Mac. I cooked him. Roasted him. Wasn’t even close. Ask him, he’ll tell you. When I was about 20, we were in Germany doing some promotional stuff for that other sneaker company and we played basketball every day. We were in the gym all the time. We played three games of one-on-one to 11. I won all three games. One game I won 11-2. After the third game he said he had back spasms and couldn’t play anymore.
Well, that pretty much sums it up. In typical Kobe fashion, he says he loves the guy but goes on to tell you why he’s so much better than the opponent.
A lot of people fail to remember just how good McGrady was in his prime. His years with the Orlando Magic were some of the best individual seasons in NBA history. He regularly competed with Kobe for high-scoring efforts, and in many ways mirrored Kobe from his days between Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol.
It’s still a fantastic quote, and as Kobe gets older he seems more and more willing to roast former opponents.
And we’re all better for it.
