Kobe Bryant was one of the country's best high-school players in the mid-1990s. Everyone knew he would join the NBA, but they did not expect him to jump immediately into the league, skipping his college eligibility.
In high school basketball, Bryant got to know some of his future NBA peers, chief among them being Vince Carter . Kobe knew Vince was the highest-ranked shooting guard in the country, so he used the Florida native as motivation to fuel him moving forward.
"I was always competitive with Vince; he was a year ahead of me in high school… We played on the same AAU team in high school, we played a tournament together. The height this guy could elevate to off the ground was unbelievable," Kobe said during a presser for his book The Mamba Mentality. "He was the number one shooting guard in that class. I was coming up behind him, and everyone was like Vince Vince Vince, I was like, okay, I wanna see what this is about. We never got the chance to go head to head, and then when he came to the NBA, that was a great opportunity to do that."
Kobe always wanted to beat Vince
The Lakers legend always sought ways to motivate himself when playing against certain players. For Vince, that was Bryant's lack of opportunity to play against Carter in high school when the Floridian was the better player.
It was why Kobe was extra motivated when playing against Vince in 31 games across 18 seasons. Bryant had a better head-to-head record over Carter, as he won 20 games compared to Carter's 11. The Black Mamba also averaged better statistics than Vinsanity, as Kobe posted averages of 23.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game compared to Vince's 16 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game.
Bryant also had the more successful career out of the two because he won five titles, while Vince did not get a championship. Carter tried his best to win a title, even playing an NBA record of 22 seasons, but it was not enough for Vinsanity.
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Kobe and Vince had a great relationship
Despite their rivalry, they remained friendly. They were teammates in AAU, which helped foster a strong friendship. They always motivated each other as two shooting guards blessed with athleticism and talent.
Their bond was strong, which led to them becoming long-term friends even in retirement. Unfortunately, Kobe passed away in January 2020, a week before a scheduled interview for Vince's documentary. It has been a bittersweet memory for Carter. Still, he knew Kobe was happy in his post-basketball career, as he was satisfied during his retirement .
"Then he asked me if I was ready. I said, 'I'm back and forth with it all the time.' He said, 'You'll enjoy it. It's peaceful.' He said we'll connect soon, and we'll talk about it and the steps he went through," Carter told the Athletic during his farewell season in 2020. "The last thing we talked about was we were going to do whatever we could do to the best of our ability to talk about our daughters."
Related: The time Carter disrespected MJ: "I have to worry about Rip Hamilton because he is the one actually doing the job for the team"
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