After winning the championship in 2000, the Los Angeles Lakers retooled a bit. They got rid of Glen Rice and John Salley and added Greg Foster and J.R. Rider . Although these are minor tweaks, Rider was still on top of his game, averaging over 19.3 points a game a season ago. That said, Rider was a headcase wrapped in an alpha male personality. In a team that already had Kobe Bryant , it felt like dealing with a ticking time bomb.
That "bomb" eventually went off in one of the most heated Purple and Gold practices. The Oakland native would go at Bryant and talk smack at the Lakers' young star. One of these exchanges led Kobe to challenge J.R. to a 1-on-1, which went downright ugly.
"Everybody off the court"
While the young Bean planned for the one-on-one to happen after practice, Phil Jackson had other ideas. According to Brian Shaw, Phil loved bits and pieces of drama like that and immediately ordered everybody off the court. Jackson didn't need to tell the veterans twice; they all went to get their ice packs, Gatorades, and popcorn, waiting for the show to begin.
"Now you got Kobe vs. J.R. in front of everybody? Oh, my gosh. Nobody went to the showers. Everybody pulled up chairs on the sideline. It was like a heavyweight fight," said Devean George on The Players Tribune.
It turns out the duel was more of a one-sided beatdown than a slugfest.
"They played to 10 by ones. Kobe just absolutely demolished him," Shaw recounted.
"It got to a point where J.R. basically said, No más. No más. J.R. had his tail between his legs for the first time in his life," power forward Horace Grant observed.
"He just go out there and take it"
Bryant's calling card was always the isolation game. As soon as he stepped on an NBA court, Kobe believed he could take anybody in a 1-on-1 situation and prevail. He was so good at it that even Michael Jordan took notice, as was seen in the opening segment of Episode 5 of The Last Dance.
"That little Laker boy's gonna take everybody one-on-one. He don't let the game come to him. He just go out there and take it," M.J. told his fellow Eastern Conference All-Stars.
"I'm gonna make s*** happen. I'm gonna make this a one-on-one game," Jordan said of Bryant's approach.
The best part about the five-time champ's one-on-one skills was that he got everything in the bag. He could take it to the rack, pull-up midrange, post-up, and shoot the three. He wasn't that much of a post operator back then, but he showed Rider the arsenal.
"This is 22-year-old Kobe. Crazy athletic. Unlimited stamina. I mean, he kicked his ass. He pulled out everything in his bag — dunk, up-and-under, pull-up, crossover," noted Brian Shaw.
Related: When MJ got called a hypocrite for his Bad Boys slander: "If it wasn't for Rodman, he wouldn't have gotten that six"
J.R.'s side of the story
To the former UNLV Runnin' Rebel's credit, he did not deny the story of Kobe beating him badly in a head-to-head match. However, he felt the reason why Bryant got away with a win was because he was out of shape .
"We went right to the court, and yeah, he handled his business. I was out of shape, and I couldn't make any excuse there. He handled his business. I told him when I get in shape, we'll run this back. Come back the next day in practice, I was mad, I can't lie, and Kobe told Phil that he wanted him to guard me in practice the entire year," Rider said on the All The Smoke podcast.
As bitter as that sounded, it had a ring of truth. The Atlanta Hawks waived him on March 17, 2000, because he habitually showed up late to practices. That means he did not play any form of competitive hoops for months and was nowhere near tip-top shape.
But then again, J.R. was dealing with an all-time great. Sure, Kobe was still 21 then, but he already had two All-Star appearances and a championship. Moreover, one-on-one play is where Mamba was the best. Rider would have held his own if he was in better shape, but the outcome wouldn't have been in doubt.
Related: "When you go to college, ain't nobody hitting you with moves" - Bradley Beal recalls how Dwyane Wade welcomed him to the NBA
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