Kobe Bryant was almost always one of the biggest names in the NBA, even towards the end of his career when his body started to wear down. The final three seasons of Kobe's career saw him struggle with injuries and regression. However, he still was the "Black Mamba" one way or another.
One guy who played alongside Bryant during these final seasons with Nick Young . When asked for a story about Kobe during their shared time together, "Swaggy P" shared an awesome story that showed even in his old age, five-time champ was just as savage as he was when he entered the league.
Young shares a hilarious Kobe story
Young played with Bryant during Kobe's final three years. While the one-time MVP dealt with injuries or struggled on a subpar Los Angeles Lakers squad, he was almost always around the team. In this one instance, though, Young and the Lakers probably were wishing Kobe wasn't with them.
The former LA guard recalled that the Lakers were waiting for Kobe to arrive at the airport. The problem was that Bryant was arriving via plane himself, and his plane blocked the Lakers' plane once it landed. It led to yet another awesome moment from the NBA legend.
"We was traveling, we was about to leave, but we had to wait on Kobe because he wasn't there on time," Young said on VladTV. "He was flying into the airport, he was flying into where we was flying out at. Instead of somebody driving to the airport and getting dropped off, he flew in."
"So we had to move the plane for his plane to land. It took about an hour, we normally take off at this time but it took like an hour or something for us to leave. And he got on the plane and said, 'Yeah, y'all wait for me. I'm Kobe, of course y'all gonna wait for me.' I said 'Damn, Kobe, hurry your a** up.' He said, 'Man, I'm Kobe, y'all wait for me,'" Young added.
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Bryant exerted his authority over the LA squad
This is an awesome story from Young that seems pretty fitting for Bryant. The Lakers were going to wait for him, and he knew it. So, he opted to take his time getting there, and then even once he got there, he inadvertently caused another delay with his own plane.
While Kobe was obviously incredibly confident, he was just joking around with his teammates about his reputation. Young was fed up with how long he kept the team waiting before Bryant doubled down on his prior message.
There aren't many guys who could get away with this, but The Black Mamaba was one of them. Considering all he did for the Lakers earlier in his career, the franchise would do pretty much anything in return for him, even wait an extra hour because of a plane traffic jam he caused.
Kobe's confidence remained in place even later in his career when his skills were eroding, but realistically, who would have expected anything else from him? Young might not have been expecting it, but he quickly learned that being a teammate with Bryant was simply different.
Related: "People thought I was nuts" - Doc Rivers believed Kobe Bryant was as good as Michael Jordan long before the GOAT debate began
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