Mamba Mentality: The Life and Death of Kobe Bryant (Episode 176)

Kobe Bryant wasn’t just a basketball player — he was a prodigy who skipped college, a three-time champ with Shaq, a scandal magnet, a scoring machine, and eventually the face of the Lakers dynasty. Off the court, he became an Oscar winner, investor, and girl-dad icon. But on January 26, 2020, Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. In this episode of Death in Entertainment, we trace the high-flying, controversial, and tragic life of the Black Mamba.

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Episode Transcript

(00:10):
Live from Los Angeles. 911 What is your emergency?
Here in Hollywood now 2 counts of murder, injury and death.
Oh my God, shocking new details.That has stunned the
entertainment world. This makes me a little nervous.
The hair stood up on my arms. Just like in the movies, What
do? You call this thing anyway.
Death. In entertainment.

(00:34):
Greetings, Deado Universe. How the hell are you?
My name is Kyle Plouffe. And I'm Jerry Aquino.
And I'm Ben Kissel and today's topic, it's one that people have
wanted for a long time. A.
Long time coming. It's the life and death of Kobe
Bryant. Oh yeah, we're going to talk
ball. We're going to talk controversy.
We might even shed a tear. Oh my God.

(00:54):
Oh my God, I'm not ready, but I'm so ready.
Yeah. So everybody do or don't get to
the chopper? Oh.

(01:29):
Kobe Bean, Bryant Bean, Bean. I thought it was bean bean.
Like a kidney or a black bean. Or a or a Mr. Bean.
Or a Jelly Bean, 'cause that's what he was named after.
His his father was Joe Bryant and he was an NBA player in his
own right. His nickname was Jelly Bean
because he just ate candy all the time.

(01:49):
I love that, Oh my God. That's so cute.
But Kobe Bean Bryant was born onAugust 23rd, 1978 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Let's go.
His middle name, Bean, like I said, came from his father.
And people say like, oh, if you want to be a pro athlete, you
gotta eat right. You gotta condition yourself.
Sometimes you can just be a genetic freak who eats candy all
day. Yep.
Yes, seriously, he ate candy allthe time and he was an amazing

(02:11):
basketball player. Yeah, professional.
Athlete. He was a serviceable NBA player.
There's a football player named DK Metcalf.
All he does is eat sweets all day and McDonald's, and then he
has like a 13 pack. He's ripped.
It's crazy, yeah. Wow, Joe was 6/9.
He was a Ford who played eight seasons in the NBA for the
76ers, 76ers, the San Diego Clippers and the Rockets in

(02:34):
Houston before continuing his career overseas.
So a pretty lengthy career. Yeah, Good job.
When Kobe was six years old, theBryant's moved to Italy, where
Joe signed with Rieti in 1984. This is why Kobe can speak all
those languages. He's all smart and stuff to
begin with, but he speaks like fluid Italian.
He does everything that he says.Back in the day you were like,

(02:55):
you also can do that. Why, Lord, why can't I do
anything? Why'd you get everything?
Yeah, seriously. He grew up immersed in Italian
culture, like you said man. He became fluent in the
language, attended local schools, wow, and even played
soccer as much as basketball. In that vein, he was a lifelong
fan of AC Milan. Oh, AC Milan.
That's where my brother went to go model in Milan, Italy.

(03:18):
Oh really? Yes.
Got in trouble with the mob, hadto flee in the middle of the
night. Well.
What did he do? I.
Don't know. Yeah, he was photographed.
Basketball, though, was always his obsession.
Because NBA games were not broadcast in Italy.
Kobe's grandfather in Philadelphia would actually mail
VHS tapes of NBA games. What a sweet time it was.

(03:39):
Yeah, so he could study up. Young Kobe would rewind them
endlessly, studying Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and
especially Michael Jordan. Of course.
Yeah, his Italian coaches recalled him staying in the gym
long after practice ended, perfecting moves until the
lights were they had to kick himout of the gym, essentially.
Yeah, he was always that guy, the opposite of Bo Jackson,

(03:59):
who's like a super athlete, maybe the greatest of all time.
He never had to practice. That's so crazy.
It's so crazy. And then Kobe was there early
and the last to leave. And when you see him be the
best, you're just like, yeah, you also did all that work.
I would rather be. I'll be 30th and at Applebee's
at 7:00 PM. Yeah, I'm fine with that.
Yeah, totally. Same here.
In 1991, when Joe retired, the family returned to the US Kobe

(04:22):
was 13, entering 8th grade, and the adjustment was rocky.
He was different from his peers,speaking English with a slight
accent. That's so hot.
And yeah, exactly. Come on now, you know he was
getting laid. So hot.
Well, of course he was carrying a European sensibility.
Yeah, seriously. And he was tall.
He was, he was, he was, he was like American tall.

(04:43):
Yeah. Because sometimes you like,
think about like these really hot European men and then
they're, and then they're kind of like Trumpy, a lot smaller
than you think they're going to be.
Yeah. Just petite.
Yeah, I know that. I met my cousin Bjorn.
He came to visit. He's from Germany.
He was really skinny and all handsome and stuff, and he was
fucking all these people in the house that I lived in too.
Wow, it was horrible. They would come over and it's

(05:03):
Bjorn here. Bjorn.
You don't want to hang out with me either.
OK, fine. Bjorn School.
He was already turning heads in high school.
He went to Lower Marion High School outside of Philly and he
emerged as a phenom. I have a clip here, and this is
while he was still playing for his high school basketball team,
being interviewed during a Sixers game.

(05:25):
Wow these people go young get get famous so young.
It's insane, yeah. Sixers leading the Bulls by 1.
Tony Irving with Kobe Bryant andTony, You could tell him it's OK
if he wants to reveal his decision to us right now, it's
perfectly fine with us. Thank you, Mark.
That's just what I was going to ask him.
Maybe he'll surprise me. What's it going to be, college
or the NBA? I.
Don't know I've made-up my mind yet.
Right now I'm going to the high school season.

(05:46):
It's final fourth time in the state playoffs after Saturday.
I'll take my time, my family andmake a decision.
I figured I'd try you. I think your father would be
very proud to know that when youmet Michael Jordan before the
game, you did say Mr. Jordan. What was that like for you?
That's a great feeling person I've always looked up to.
It's great when you made that, when you meet your idol and it's
a great experience and hopefullyin the future I'll be able to

(06:08):
talk to him some more. When will you ultimately make
your your decision? I'm looking towards late April
or early May. Good luck however it turns out
to you. Thank you very much.
Thanks for joining. It's incredible that that man's
career. Who is interviewing him?
He's like, if you could really help me out here, 17 year old, I
can get this scoop. There's a contract waiting for
me. It's going to help my me and my
family. Just break this news, please.

(06:30):
Please God, they said they were going to fire me.
So this was his senior year. Of course it was 1995 to 1996.
He averaged 30 almost 31 points,30.8 points a game, 12 rebounds
a game, 6.5 assists, 4 steals infour blocks.
That is just completely unheard of.
Unreal stat line. That was high school.

(06:50):
High school. That's pretty crazy.
Yeah, he led Lower Marion to A state championship, which he was
in the middle of that run right there.
They were in the final four. They won the championship, their
first in 53 years. Wow.
I mean, you know, he was off to a great start when he gets to
meet Michael Jordan before the game.
Like, you don't just you don't just get to meet Michael Jordan.
Yeah. Seriously, that was probably a
very good omen. Yeah, yeah.

(07:12):
He finished his career with over2800 points in high school.
Still a pen Pennsylvania high school record at the time, and
it broke the one. The only Wilt Chamberlain's
record. That's amazing.
That's not the last time those two will battle for stats in
life. That season, he was named the
Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Player of the

(07:32):
Year and a McDonald's All American.
The pressure on these children, it's crazy.
I went to 1 basketball camp thathad a bunch of like really good
players. And then I realized like, oh, I
can't. Oh, I I'm not doing that.
I don't. Even play the same game.
Well, they all dumped the ball and stuff and we were the same
age and I made him laugh a lot, but I was like, wow, there's a
difference. Oh, there's a huge difference.

(07:54):
Yeah, there's definitely you. You really find out that you're
the Comic Relief in these kinds of places.
Absolutely. Were you cracking a lot of
jokes? Most.
No. I was just like playing.
Yeah. And they were not around a lot.
I used to tell the story on stage, but I had to I was late
to practice all the time 'cause me and the kids, we were having
fun and I had to push a basketball with my nose all the
way across the court as my. Punisher No.
With my nose I'm and I had to say beep beep.

(08:16):
I'm a Jeep. No, you didn't.
I did. Me and a couple of other kids
who were late and then everyone laughed and laughed and laughed
that. Is so crazy.
Yeah, and I used to tell the joke about how they were
laughing. And for the first time I grew
up, I realized when I grew up, Iwant to be a serial killer.
That almost that sounds, yeah, that sounds like the makeup of
what takes to make a serial killer.
But then other kids were being recruited at that time.

(08:36):
That's insane. Yeah.
And I was like, do you think youwant to see me for your Division
Three team that? Sounds a made-up.
Yeah, I was the tank. Yeah.
Ben finally gets his revenge. He hasn't tied up and he's like.
Who's the Jeep now? Say it.
Thank God for comedy. Yeah.
Saved a lot of people's lives. The McDonald's All American Game
is a game every year that's pretty much the crystal ball for

(08:59):
future NBA stardom. But it doesn't always pan out.
Some hyper players have or hypedplayers have fizzled out.
In 2001, for example, LeBron James was not touted as the
number one prospect. People forget this.
What? There was a guy named Lenny Cook
and he was a prospect who is supposed to be light years ahead
of LeBron as the next big thing,and he never played one minute

(09:21):
in the NBA. Now what?
What happened with him? A lot of bad decisions, no work
ethic whatsoever. It wasn't a bad attitude.
Yeah, so like, he's just a kid. In other words, he's 17.
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, he was like successfully
17. Yeah, got it.
But I get that. Holy hell.
But for Kobe Bryant, the hype really proved real.

(09:42):
Scouts and coaches were convinced, and though he
considered college, he knew whenhe was talking to that guy
before the Sixers game that he wasn't going to go to college.
But obviously he wasn't giving them the scoop.
Right. And this was, it was very
uncommon for that leap to happen.
High school to high school to the NBA was quite uncommon.
Yes, exactly. The year before.
So in 1995, the 1995 NBA draft, Kevin Garnett went straight from

(10:06):
high school to the pros. So that gave him the idea that
he could actually do it. Now, what qualifies you to do
that? You gotta be real good.
You have to. Basically.
Just to be like, like professionally good where you're
like, Oh yeah, 444 years of college ball, that's not going
to do much here. We're just going to send you
straight to the big time. And I'm pretty certain when when
Kobe was in Italy, he played against all the professional

(10:26):
players in Italy as well. So he'd been playing against
grown ass men for a while, yeah.So it kind of made sense.
That doesn't make sense. But now the NBA has changed it
where you have to be 19, you have to have one year either
overseas or in college. Yeah, because a lot of kids did
jump from high school to the NBA, and because they're kids,
they fizzled out and, you know, it was horrible.
Yeah, that makes sense. And it's not for a lack of

(10:47):
trying on the colleges part. The Duke, North Carolina and
Villanova all heavily recruited him, but Kobe shocked everybody
by declaring for the 96 draft straight out of high school.
Wow, it does kind of make me sadthinking what he could have done
in college. I mean, it would have been a
whole nother layer to his story because he would have won a
national championship if he wentto North Carolina or the rival

(11:08):
Duke. Yeah, that would have been a
whole nother lineage to his story, but true.
It would have been, yeah, a piece to his story, but
ultimately it just would have made the college a lot of money.
Well, that's true. So for him, it's like I'll just
go make the money myself. Right.
Yeah, he became only the 6th there in NBA history to do so.
So Kevin Garnett was the 5th right before him, and that's
what really inspired him to do it, Kobe later explained.

(11:30):
I didn't want to be the next Michael Jordan.
I only wanted to be Kobe Bryant.Let's.
Go. So the 1996 NBA Drafts happens.
It's legendary. Now it produced the number one
overall pick, Allen Iverson, RayAllen, Steven Nash, Stephon
Marbury, Oh my God, Jermaine O'Neill and Kobe Bryant, as well
as Walter McCarty was in there in the first round, and Derek

(11:52):
Fisher. Yeah, I'll take that top six
over any top six in the history of the draft.
Yeah, seriously. My top 6 for Facebook, Myspace.
They're in your top friends for Myspace and you got the We Are
the Champion song by Queens in your background like.
Yeah, absolutely. So understand this, the number
one overall pick, everybody knewthat Philadelphia had that.

(12:13):
And it, it obviously was kind oflike a knife in the heart that
Allen Iverson went number one overall and not the hometown kid
Kobe Bryant himself getting interviewed before the Sixers
game. Mm hmm.
Kobe slid all the way to #13 where the Charlotte Hornets
selected him. I had no idea.
And so people forget that behindthe scenes Lakers GM Jerry West
had already orchestrated a trade.

(12:33):
Kobe had dazzled in pre draft workouts, reportedly dominating
former Defensive Player of the Year Michael Cooper in
one-on-one drills. And Jerry West said to
everybody, that's the best player in the draft.
And Jerry West, of course, was the best player of his time.
He's still the NBA logo. Can you imagine?
The NBA logo itself tells you you're the best person that
year. Oh wow, that's who it.

(12:54):
Was that's who it is? Yeah, that's.
Great NBA logo is a white guy. It's a we got one.
Can you and the people and people say, well, let's change
it. Can we?
That's my statue. Can we not change that one,
please? Can we have one thing?
No. Leave it.
Leave that track. Thank you.
Oh, thank you, Jerry. It actually means a lot coming
from a person of color. Yeah, yeah.
Also, I, I, I don't really have a lot to do with sports, but.

(13:14):
Don't. Don't backtrack it.
Well, This is why I just, I havea lot of questions about this.
Yeah. So drafting #13 this is this
like bad does this like make everyone take a step back and be
like, whoa, why wasn't he drafted one through 5?
Yes, if you're Kobe Bryant, you're upset that you slid that
far, especially when you could have gone to your hometown team
and and been the guy that Allen Iverson became for Philadelphia.

(13:35):
Do you ever get to choose what team you play for?
No, not really. I mean, you can talk to them and
tell them, you know, if you're like top five guy in the draft,
you can be like, hey, I'm not going anywhere but you.
And that's what happened with Eli Manning.
He he got drafted by the Chargers and he was like, I'm
not playing for you fucking guys.
So they were forced to trade him.
But it kind of makes the player look a little bad, so people

(13:56):
sort of be like, oh, he doesn't want to play for us, He's too.
It makes you seem kind of like an asshole, but it's your future
so. Yeah, exactly.
So the it's all documented now that Jerry West worked out the
deal. Charlotte would draft Kobe
Bryant and immediately trade himto Los Angeles for veteran
center Vladi Diva 'cause they wanted a big man.
Wow. That might be one of the most

(14:17):
lopsided trades in all of sports.
I mean, he's an OK basketball player, but he's no Kobe.
They they just, I guess they went with what they know.
I guess so. They wanted a big man.
Vladi's big, you know. At first, Vladi Divac threatened
to retire rather than to be shipped to Charlotte, nearly
killing the trade. But then he relented, and the
Lakers officially acquired Kobe on July 11th, 1996.

(14:40):
Let's. Go and then Charlotte brought
him to a Yard House and he was like, see, we have a nightlife
here in Charlotte. Yeah, look at this want.
To go to TGI Friday's please. At 17, Kobe signed his contract
and his parents were they actually had, They were forced
to cosign it because he was underage.
Yeah. Lucky ass parents.
I mean, I know they worked theirasses off and they were

(15:01):
successful in their own right, but that's a pretty great day.
Yeah, Kobe never came out and said that they like Macaulay
Culkin to him or anything, so I'm sure it all worked out.
They never let him hang out withMichael Jackson alone in his
underwear, drinking wine. No, never did.
You imagine that the guy who tried to molest Kobe Bryant?
Oh my God. Just didn't work out.
He was like a super athlete. He was big.

(15:21):
That's crazy. Forget anyone drawing him unless
Kobe Bryant immediately falls inlove with him.
I was. I was going to go do something
weird. But not just his eyes.
His eyes now he does weird stuff.
Yeah, I offered myself. Kobe Bryant's rookie season was
uneven. He averaged 7.6 points in 15 1/2
minutes per game, playing mostlyas a bench guard.

(15:43):
But his athleticism was electrifying.
At the 1997 Slam Dunk contest, he pulled off Alpha between the
legs dunk, winning the trophy atjust 18 years old, the youngest
ever. He was all cool looking, he's
all skinny and stuff. Yeah, he was the youngest NBA
player in general, too. Then came his first taste of
playoff pressure. In Game five of the 1997 Western

(16:06):
Conference Semi Finals against Utah, Kobe shot 4 1234
consecutive air balls in crunch time where they could have won.
Wow. Well, we don't remember that, do
we? No interesting teammates were
stunned. Critics pounced.
They called them overconfident and UN ready.
But Kobe later said that's when I grew up.

(16:26):
No excuses, No Fear. Wow, that's right.
Sometimes when you're rebuilding, first you have to
crash. You have to be shattered.
You do to. Rebuild, Yeah.
By 1998, his star was rising fast.
Though he was still the Lakers six man, fans voted him into the
All Star game as a starter. At 19, he became the youngest
All Star in history. And especially All Star starter

(16:48):
veterans were skeptical. They were saying how could you
be considered part of the best five in the league when you're
not considered top five on your own?
Team I understand that skepticism.
It's a little strange. The All Star game happened at
Madison Square Garden in New York City, and it became a
defining moment. Kobe went head to head with
Michael Jordan, who was in his final season with the Bulls

(17:08):
before his 1999 baseball comeback kiss.
Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Jordan scored 23 and 1 MVP Kobe
scored eighteen with highlight dunks.
It was seen as a passing of the torch of sorts, though Jordan
wasn't ready to let it go. Yeah, Jordan ain't passing any
torch. He still hasn't.
Passed the fucking take it from his cold dead hands.

(17:30):
Pretty much. Jordans own career at that point
was in its own shadows. Rumors swirled that the first
retirement in 93 was linked to gambling controversies and even
his father's tragic murder, although Jordan always denied
it. It's very interesting.
Strange timing. Have you heard about that story?
I did. Yeah, I don't understand.
I'll never understand what happened.
On the side of I believe in North Carolina highways.

(17:51):
Yeah, there was shot. It's insane.
And they think he owed gambling debts.
And so it was retribution. And then it was like, you know,
this could come out in the news.So it was like a hush, hush
backdoor deal. You go away for a few years.
Michael did say though, he's like, I never had gambling
debts. I'm rich as hell.
Yeah, I paid. Them all.
So yeah, he was like people saidI had a gambling, gambling
problem. He's like, I never had to

(18:11):
leverage my mortgage, my house. He's like, I have all the money,
right? I mean, if Michael Jordan lived
under today's spotlight, I don'tthink he would be Michael Jordan
because LeBron James has literally done nothing wrong
socially at all. Yeah.
And people still find reasons tonot like him.
All he has done is, like, give back to his community and

(18:31):
occasionally stand up for civil rights.
And he gets demonized all the time.
It's a whole cottage industry bySkip Bayless and people like
that. Yeah.
Michael Jordan was gambling on everything.
Yeah. He really?
Was and his lifestyle was it washe was a was he?
Would you say he's a party guy? He was frivolous with his
lifestyle. He had a frivolous lifestyle.
Yeah, he had fun. By the end of the 90s, Kobe's

(18:53):
was no longer a high school curiosity.
He was the future of the Lakers.The Lakers, though, still hadn't
climbed back to championship glory since the Showtime era
ended in 1988. That all changed with the
arrival of Phil Jackson. In 99.
Jackson brought his six titles from Chicago, the triangle
offense and a Zen like approach to handling egos.
Uh huh. OK, well I have some things to

(19:14):
say about Phil, but I'll wait. Oh, a Zen like.
Met him in person, he was He's an enormous human being.
Yeah, he's like taller than me, right?
Oh yeah. Really.
That's possible. He didn't do much for the New
York Knicks when he was their president.
But yeah, Zen like. Zen like.
So you Zen like. But at this time, he was exactly

(19:35):
what the Lakers needed and exactly what Kobe needed.
He had to drive the talent and now the coach who could harness
him. That is very true.
And it worked out. The Lakers went off to a 67 and
15 record, the best in the league.
In the Western Conference Finalsagainst Portland, the Lakers
found themselves on the brink. Game 7, Staples Center.
The Blazers, led by Scottie Pippen at that time, and Rasheed

(19:58):
Wallace. Dude was dope.
They were up by 15 points in thefourth quarter.
Rasheed Wallace was formerly of Detroit Pistons.
Yep. And he was known for fighting,
and he was really cool. And he'd a he had a white plot
bought. What is it?
Yeah. It was like a silver dollar
size, like missing from his hair.
Yeah, he was. Really.
Yeah. He was all cool.
That's cool, yeah. Then came one of the most iconic

(20:19):
plays in NBA history. Kobe drove past Pippin lofted
the ball into the air, and Shaq hammered it down with a Primal
Scream. More primal than my voice
cracking. Sounds like a dinosaur being
born, yeah. It'd be cool if that was the
exact sound that came out of. It was probably similar, yeah.
The alley oop capped a furious comeback, the Lakers advanced

(20:41):
and Staples Center shook like anearthquake.
In the Finals against Indiana, Shaq dominated, averaging 38
points and 16 rebounds. But in Game 4, Shaq fouled out.
Kobe, just 21 years old, took the team into overtime, hitting
the dagger after dagger after dagger and put LA up 3 to 1.
Yeah, I could've. I could've done that at 21,

(21:02):
yeah. Yeah, no problem.
No pressure. It was his first arrival as a
clutch player, and the Lakers won the series in six games.
If 2000 was a breakthrough, 2001was annihilation.
The Lakers went 15 and one in the play offs.
Still one of the best postseasonrecords ever.
In the Western Conference Finalsthat year, Kobe destroyed the
Spurs. Game one in San Antonio. 45

(21:24):
points. Game, 448 points, 16 rebounds.
Well. Someone found some momentum.
Yeah, he did. They complete the sweep.
Tim Duncan called it one of the greatest performances he'd ever
seen on a basketball court. That's amazing.
He's the one playing against them.
Yeah. That's that's how you know
someone's good. Yeah, like I can't even hate
dude. You fucked us up.
I don't say this. Tim Duncan, I think he's the

(21:44):
greatest power forward of all time.
And since he retired, he's got his long ass hair and he looks
like he smokes weed all the time.
And when he was a player, he looked like he he only read
books and was like kind of nerdy.
Yeah. But now that he's more blossomed
as a person, he's he's fun. Yeah, he's a fun guy.
I love that. Yeah, but he doesn't get in a
lot of recognition because he was quite quiet.
The Finals match LA with Allen Iverson's Philadelphia 76ers.

(22:08):
So he's looking at him like you took over my city, now I'm going
to fuck you up. Right, it's made to be.
This is the series that Iverson famously stepped over Tyronn Lue
in game one, stealing the openerin LA, but the Lakers won the
next 4. Shaq was named Finals MVP.
Ouch. But Kobe's dominance over the
West made it clear this was no longer just Shaq's team.

(22:28):
So he's like the grizzled veteran, Like, this is my team,
Yeah. Yeah.
And it, it was his team, Yeah. It was.
There was some, but not for love.
Some you know. Were there some tensions?
There was some tensions behind the scenes.
Yeah, you could imagine they have a bit of an ego, both of
them. I bet, yeah.
So the Lakers went for history, a third straight championship.

(22:50):
Their toughest test came againstthe Sacramento Kings.
Led by Chris Webber and Mike Bibby.
The series went seven games and remains one of the most
controversial in NBA history. In Game 6, the Lakers attempted
27 free throws in the fourth quarter alone.
Oh my God, the fix is. Is Tim Donaghy on that?
He's on. He's the the ref that got in
trouble for betting games and was like, listen, nobody else

(23:12):
was in this with me. And I do believe him.
NBA games you can rig just as one referee.
You don't need the whole squad. Yeah, 'cause you can just keep
calling foul. Have to foul, have to foul.
It's also much it's easier for the players too.
Yeah, a lot of point shaving, soyour team doesn't necessarily
have to lose, but you can have them win by, you know, X amount
in order to make the to to coveras.
The. Gamblers with right, right,

(23:33):
right. The Lakers won and then took
game seven in Sacramento. Years later, disgraced referee
Tom Donnelly claimed the game was manipulated, though the NBA
has always denied it. Tim Donahey?
Yeah, what a real piece of fucking work.
In the Finals, the Lakers swept the New Jersey Nets.
Kobe averaged 27 points, 6 rebounds and five assists.

(23:54):
At 23 years old he was a three time world champion.
Wow. We.
Yeah, that's quite a bit of things to accomplish.
Right. Yeah, I was working at Jimmy
John's. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That was delivering those those Subs and offering free smells
because that's what Jimmy John'soffers.
I mean it's not supposed to be delivered to your door, but I

(24:14):
would turn fart. Free smells.
That's on the sign. It says free smells out of
outside of every Jimmy John's. It's the worst mark.
It's disgusting. It's disgusting, really.
I don't know what it means. As a delivery guy, I would say
here's your sub, here's your free smell, and then I would
fart and then leave. Wow, OK.
So it's my little technique to give a free smell.
Good thing I've never. You get the Jimmy John's.

(24:35):
Yeah, No, I. Didn't I mean it's free smells,
just walking in and smelling it like that's it.
That's really it it. Really fucking.
Creeps me out or there's someonein prison named smells.
I've never even. Seen it free, my homie smells.
Free smells bro. Why the nickname?
You smells? You're gonna find out, buddy.
It's wait until after lunch. Well, even at the height of
their success, they got 3 championships and tensions were

(24:57):
at an all time high because KobeBryant was saying we all have to
come in at 5:00 AM for workouts and the whole team wasn't doing
it. Definitely not Shaq.
Yeah. Shaq meanwhile, reported to
training camp way out of shape, preferring to play his way into
condition. So he's like, I'm going to do
whatever the fuck I want, then I'm going to show up and I'll
get into shape. Yeah, they say.

(25:18):
Kobe said if Shaq had a work ethic like him, he would have
won like 5 or 6 championships. Wow.
Exactly. But Shaq at this time was also
just a marketing genius. So he was like he is now.
He was everywhere, doing everything else other than
basketball. Good for him.
Yeah, yeah, he was starting movies and shit.
Yeah, he had his own thing, sidething going on.
He was like a he was like a full, full out person outside.

(25:40):
Yeah. He had Shaq Fu.
The video game was good and Kazam.
Oh. Kazam.
Yeah. Not to be confused with Shazam,
which doesn't exist. Yeah.
Kobe publicly, yeah. With the Sinbad, it's a whole
thing. It's a whole like Mandela Effect
thing. We remember that Sinbad was in a
rival movie, genie movie called Shazam.

(26:02):
Uh huh. Really.
Shaq 'cause yeah, yeah. We can go on.
We can do a whole episode, Hunter.
OK, wow, you guys just blew mine, but yeah, sure.
Publicly, Kobe blasted Shaq for being lazy.
Shaq fired back saying that Kobewas selfish and didn't pass.
But how'd you get so many dunks if he's not passing?
Phil Jackson said coaching both of them was like parenting 2

(26:22):
stubborn sons. I believe.
That I must have been quite the rivalry.
Yes, Phil is like, fuck Zen, you're on time out.
Yeah, fuck all this. Yeah, after three straight
championships, the Empire began to crumble.
You could only win for so long with egos like that.
Yeah, it started in the summer of 2003.

(26:42):
So June 30th, 2003, Kobe checkedinto the Lodge and spa at
Cordillera in Eagle, Co for kneesurgery.
That night, a 19 year old hotel employee accused him of sexual
assault. Oh my God.
Yeah, this was huge news. I remember for the court case,
but why was it? Why was it accused in a in a
lodge and spa? Yeah, so yeah, she worked there.

(27:05):
She went up to his room and thenthey had sex and she said it was
not consensual. He said he had no idea that she
wasn't into it. Whoa, It's it's real time.
I don't know. Yeah.
That's real. That's real freaky.
Yeah. So, yeah, he admitted to
adultery but insisted it was consensual.
Prosecutors charged him on July 18th, 2003.
The case, you know it, it dominated headlines.

(27:27):
Literally it took the Iraq war off the news.
Wow. Literally that.
Wow. Kobe gave a press conference
with his wife Vanessa standing right next to him, and he's
fighting back tears the whole time, saying, quote, I sit here
in front of you guys, furious atmyself, disgusted at myself for
making the mistake of adultery. Oh my.
God, and I'm not sure if this was the press conference, but

(27:49):
there's another one where she iswearing a rock that is, it was
like the size of a baseball. $4 million rock after that, Yeah,
it wasn't that one. It was after.
And he was like, I fucked up so bad and this is so horrible
that. She couldn't even lift her arm
up. She's like, anyway he's sorry
so. Holy shit.
Yeah, the fallout was immediate.McDonald's, Nutella, Spalding,

(28:11):
Adidas, they all got rid of them.
Oh. Remember when cheating was like
a thing? When moralities were a thing?
Where your hands dropped you foradultery.
It was the two Fer, I think of the assault accusations, then
the be married thing, yeah. Yeah, Nike actually is the only
one that kept him. They had a $40 million contract
they had just signed previous sohe could release a signature

(28:31):
sneaker for people. Mm hmm.
But then delayed the the the launch of it until the case was
settled. Yeah, Nike is like our shoes are
made by children. So we're we're not going to have
the moral high ground here also,nor does Nutella.
For the yes. Seriously.
On the road, fans chanted rapistevery single time he touched the

(28:52):
ball. God damn the arenas would shake.
Oh my God, that must have been miserable for him and his wife,
his whole family. The whole thing, it became pop
culture fodder. The biggest comedian at the time
was Dave Chappelle and he even had a bid on it.
Yo, Chappelle. Yeah, we'll play.
Oh, to. Be honest, this is the worst
time in history to be a black celebrity.
Fuck they locking all our stars up.

(29:13):
It's hot right now for black celebrities.
I knew it was bad when Kobe got in trouble.
I said this is a wrap for us. He's one of the most wholesome
dudes we had. Lock him up.
Everything. Kobe kept it together.
Thank God he he held his game together because if he was
cracking under pressure and getting like 6 points a game the

(29:36):
whole LA would have been like that *** is guilty.
Kobe was playing his ass off. He was playing like his freedom
depended on that shit. You see that's motherfucking
them games. This nigga's trying to beat that
case on the court. Like the judge threw the ball.

(30:01):
Like play for your freedom. It's so true, though, like if he
was struggling on the court, that it would have been way
worse. Chappelle's been famous for so
long. So long, yeah.
I just think that's a really like wild like connection to
make that it's like, if he does poorly in a game then he must be
guilty for whatever he's being accused of criminally.
Yeah, it's a great. It's totally dead on.

(30:23):
That's just, that's just, that'sjust a social like public, like
a court of public opinion. Yeah, hmm.
Has became the basketball court of public opinion.
He had the wow produce. Yeah.
So the case dragged into 2004. Kobe shuttled between court and
Colorado and Lakers games in LosAngeles.
So he would literally even if the team was on the road, he
would have to fly for a court date and then immediately fly
back to the games. Wow.

(30:45):
Sometimes he would have to fly in the morning to appear, appear
in front of the judge, then suiting up for a game that night
at the Staples Center. That's so much pressure.
Yeah. I mean, I wonder if like, at
least when you're playing the game, you can focus on
everything. You don't have to focus on
everything else, just focus on the game, right?
So maybe that's good. In September 2004, the accuser
declined to testify and refused to cooperate with the process.

(31:08):
So the criminal case had to be dropped, which is tough 'cause
it's like, is she doing it because she is getting cold feet
or maybe she's like maybe it wasconsensual or is hoping for a
payout, I don't know. I think there's a lot of money
involved. Yeah, I think there's a lot of
money involved. They probably, yeah, she could
have. She could have drained her her
own accounts dry with this case.She's not rich like he is.

(31:31):
Right, Right. Well, I would assume the lawyers
took it on pro bono. This is like one.
It's just everything gets so lost in the prism of fame and
wealth. Yeah.
After that, there was a civil settlement that followed and
Kobe as a part of that had to issue a public apology
acknowledging the woman did not view the encounter as consensual
like he did. Did they ever did they ever say
what he paid? No, that's never been released.

(31:53):
OK, Yeah. Meanwhile, the Lakers tried to
load up for another run. They signed Karl Malone.
And Horrible Load is the one whoshould have been on trial.
Yeah. He's the biggest piece of shit
he got. His 13 year old niece pregnant
was it? Yeah.
What? Yo, there's some southern shit
going on. And completely denied his
Sonny's existence for his entirelife until he made it to the

(32:14):
NFL. Then he's like, Daddy's gonna
give you a hug. Ohh it feels.
Horrible. It's such a surprise too because
he was like such a cookie cutter.
Everyone's like that guy looks like he just goes home and
literally eats potatoes and goesto bed.
Yeah, people are like, he's the mailman.
He's he's such a nice guy. He's in the wrestling ringing
WCW. Yeah, so I got Karl Malone and
then Jimmy Kimmel is doing blackface, playing him on The

(32:36):
Man Show and stuff. My.
God, before Kimmel became Kimmel, that he is today.
Yeah, very. Understanding.
I'll take Gray. I'll take blackface.
Kimmel, actually. Honestly, yeah, it doesn't feel
that much far off. Yeah.
They also got the glove Gary Payton to join Shaq and Kobe.
Oh shit, let's go. Yeah, but.
Called the glove. 'Cause he's, he fit like like a

(32:58):
glove on the defence. I think it was 'cause he could
pass so well, 'cause he could pass well, it's 'cause he could
fit like a glove. He's not O JS glove, right?
No, he fit, Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, he like wears you like a glove.
Will be inside of you like a glove.
Yeah, we could. I don't actually know.
Now think about is he a? Proctor.
No glove, no love. Ohh God, that's the the hand
that rocks the cradle. Always work condoms.

(33:19):
That guy? Yeah, call him the Glove.
The glove. Not a kid insight, No, no.
But this super team failed mightily.
Malone struggled with injuries, Peyton clashed with the triangle
offense, and Shaq and Kobe's feud just boiled into open
warfare. That is because the triangle
offense is not a fucking offense.
It's an idea and it's up to the players to to do it, and if the
players can't do it, then it's not an offense. 100%.

(33:41):
Correct. Yeah, it's about passing the
ball. Literally his.
A lot of players just want to betold where to go and when to do
it, and that's called Triangle. Gets rid of that.
Yes, you have to figure it out yourself on the fly.
And then Phil is like, look whatI did.
And it's like you had five of the greatest players of all time
in Dennis Rodman. You had Michael Jordan, Scottie
Pippen, fucking Jack and Kobe. Don't even.

(34:02):
I'm getting going now. I'm getting going on.
You're getting Benny 2 pubes going.
Two, my pubes are tying themselves a knot in.
A knot in the 2004 Finals, the heavily favored Lakers face the
Detroit Pistons. So even though they were falling
apart, they still made it to theend and Detroit, led by Chauncey
Billups, Ben Wallace and RasheedWallace, played suffocating

(34:24):
defense. Kobe forced difficult shots,
finishing the series shooting just 38% which is not good,
especially for him. I'll suffocate your defense.
Yeah, the Pistons won in five games, so they they won one and
lost four. That ain't good.
It's over. Yeah.
The fallout was devastating. Shaq was immediately traded to
Miami. Phil Jackson reside calling Kobe

(34:45):
uncoachable. Wow, Phil Uncoachable.
You're the coach. Coach.
You coach. Karl Malone this.
Is uncoachable. Uncoachable Karl Malone retired
and Gary Payton. The glove was put in the box and
shipped out. Wow.
For Kobe, it meant starting over.
For Shaq, it was a reinvention. In December 2005, he was sworn
in as a reserve police officer for the Miami Beach Police

(35:08):
Department, earning 1,000,000. Ohh wait sorry I was gonna say
1,000,000 earning $1.00 a year. If I got pulled over by fucking
Shaq, I'd be like, I God, I knewI was drinking and driving, but
I didn't know I was tripping. Yeah, what?
Seriously. I between Shaq and Steven
Seagal, I'm not sure who I'm more scared of getting pulled

(35:29):
over by. Oh, Seagal will try to like,
fucking strangle you. Yeah, yeah, I would be more
afraid of that. That's true.
Shaq would just be like hanging out with you.
Yeah, I'd give you a Papa Jack. Would be like, are both of your
eyes looking at me? Are you looking at me?
It was obviously a publicity stunt, Shaq with a badge in
hand, smiling for cameras. It boosted his popularity at a
moment when Kobe was being vilified.

(35:50):
Oh my God. Yeah.
Can you imagine a time where people were like cheering for a
celebrity to become a police officer?
That's. So funny.
That's funny. Different time.
I kind of, I really don't ever remember Shaq not being a
likable person, right? Celebrity.
He's a businessman, yeah. Yeah, so he would even take part
in community policing efforts once helping officers respond to

(36:11):
a hate crime incident in South Florida.
What? Wait.
He blew out the the burning cross.
What happened? I don't have the exact details
on it, but that's been reported that he actually helped respond
to a hate crime. That's hilarious.
Which makes sense 'cause if someone's like, oh, I hate black
people. And then he walks in and he's
like, Oh well, not that one, he's killed.

(36:31):
Me. Oh, do you?
You hate black people. Not you, Mr. O'Neill, I love
you. Can you give us a championship,
please? For many fans, he was the hero.
Kobe, meanwhile, was painted as the villain who drove Shaq out
of LA. The dynasty, wow, was over.
It's done. Oh well.
Not yet, though. Not yet.
So in 2005, things were changing.

(36:52):
He had a weak supporting cast, and because of that, Kobe was
able to unleash his full scoringarsenal.
In the 2005 to 2006 season, he averaged over 35 points a game,
the highest since Michael Jordan's 37 in 1987.
Then on January 22nd, 2006, he produced one of the greatest
performances in NBA history, 81 points against the Toronto

(37:14):
Raptors. Let's go He shot 28 of 46, hit 7
threes and made 18 of 20 free throws.
Wow, I'm going to say this is bigger than Wilt Chamberlain's
100 because Wilt Chamberlain wasa foot taller than everybody.
Yeah, if the 100, they say he scored 100 points in a game,
right? If that game happened, there's
no footage, there's no archive. No, no, there's just a picture

(37:34):
of him holding the number 100. That's the controversy.
Kobe's 81 to me is more it's, it's in modern NBA, it's.
Documented. It's documented and I think it
was more difficult. I don't think we'll ever see it
again. I don't think so, yeah.
The Lakers were down 18 in the third quarter before Kobe
carried them to victory, so theywere almost down 20 points and

(37:54):
he still brought him back with his 81.
It remains the second highest scoring game ever, like Ben
said, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100 in 1962, Which as we get
older and we learn more about the situation, could be complete
bullshit. Really.
It could be, yeah. Oh.
Shit. A scandal.
A scandal? Yeah, very much so.
But the post season was cruel. In the 2006 playoffs against

(38:17):
Phoenix, the Lakers went up three one before collapsing.
In Game 7, Kobe scored just one point in the second-half,
accused of quitting on his team to prove a point.
Oh, that ain't right. No, that ain't.
Right. He what?
He just said fuck you guys, you suck it.
I'm I'm out of here. He just stopped playing.
Yeah, he got one point in the second-half which he had to try
to do that. Well, what was wrong?
Well, he was upset with his teammates not being as good as

(38:38):
him it. Seems like you know, sports
psychology to me is so fascinating so.
Weird. I feel like Michael Jordan has
found himself in this exact samestate of mind.
Yeah. That's why Michael gets the I
think he's the greatest of all time.
Yeah, he's 6 and O in the finalsthe Suns won and critics labeled
him untrustworthy as a leader. Man, Kobe was always in and then

(39:00):
out really fast. Yeah, seriously.
And I forgot about this part. In 2007 he actually was so
pissed he demanded a trade on the radio.
On the radio live in LA. He told them the LA radio he'd
never play for the Lakers again.No, LA was freaking out.
The front office held firm saying we ain't fucking getting
rid of nobody, especially not you.

(39:20):
You're stuck here with us. Yeah, it's great for team
relations. Yeah, I bet.
Yeah, exactly. It was clear he was desperate to
win. So at this time too, Kobe
announced he was switching jerseys from #8 to #24 #8.
It came from his Adidas camp number when he was a child.
Yeah, His number was labeled 143, which is actually I love

(39:41):
you. Mr. Rogers taught us that.
Yeah, but one. +4 +38 so that's why his he chose that, you know?
Is that a little numerology in there?
Yeah, exactly #24 had been his early high school number before
he switched to 33. But the change was symbolic,
Kobe explained. 8 was about proving myself.

(40:01):
It was me against the world. 24 was about growth, about
maturity, about being a leader. Yeah, it was a fresh start, a
public signal that the Kobe Bryant who'd been in a scandal,
in feuds, was evolving into something more.
Isn't something with eight wordslike the never ending?
Isn't the 8th the never ending Infinity?
Infinity Loop, Yeah. But yeah, 24 also signaled the

(40:22):
beginning of his Black Mamba era.
This was it. This is.
Yeah. I didn't realize that he got the
Black Mamba from Kill Bill. He did.
He saw that and he's like, I'm afucking assassin too and I'm
gonna show these mother fuckers what's up.
Yeah, 'cause the. He did for Vivica Banks.
Yeah, really, Black Mamba? Banks was the Oh no, she was.
She was the one who was like, I should have been the Black

(40:42):
Mamba. Oh yeah, it was the IT was
actually Uma Thurman. It was Uma Thurman was known as
the Black Mamba and gay fox, whoshe ended up fighting to the
death in her in her kitchen. She was like, that should have
been my name. Oh yes.
Funny, yeah. So the redeem team was the 2008
Olympics. That summer in Beijing, Kobe
redefined himself. Team USA had been humiliated
with a bronze medal in 2004 'cause if you're doing anything

(41:04):
other than gold and you're in the NBA, which is supposed to be
the Premier League in the world,you're fucking up.
You got to win gold. You just do.
That's ours. They can have soccer, we get
basketball. That's ours.
The 2008 squad was loaded. LeBron James, Dwyne Wade,
Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant.
Yeah. At that point, he was the elder
statesman and the enforcer. He set the tone by practicing

(41:27):
again at 5:00 AM, forcing younger stars to follow.
It's too early, Mr. Mr. Bryant. That's just way too early.
So when he was younger, he was doing it.
Everyone was like, this fucking kid, this, this will try hard.
I'll come in when I'm ready. Yeah.
But now it's like, Oh my God, dude.
The dude says we have to go. In the old man's here the old.
Man says we have to go in. God damn it, I'm so I think I'm
still drunk. Yeah, go in.

(41:47):
Definitely. In the gold medal game against
Spain, he took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 13
points and hitting dagger threes.
After 1/3 he held a finger to his lips saying don't talk.
Don't talk. Don't talk about me.
It's like a scary movie. Don't talk.
I don't get it. He.
Was saying to the crowd, I. Haven't got?

(42:09):
It Coach K said he was the leader of the team.
He made us tougher. Oh, there you go.
So he's nice. He got the gold for the USA team
and everyone was like maybe he isn't such a bad.
Guy, we like him. Again, it seems to be tied
directly to how well he's playing on the court if they
like him. Or not.
Isn't that a shame? Isn't that weird?
But also, I could also see how it also just looks like he was
like, yeah, growing into a man. He was like, he was like a boy

(42:30):
earlier in his first years. He jumped straight into the NBA
because he had a lot of ego. Everyone has ego in their 20s.
Girl, you'll be a man soon. Yeah, it's modern America.
Yeah. In 2009, Kobe finally won
without Shaq. The Lakers beat Dwight Howard's
Orlando Magic 4 to one. In the Finals.
Kobe averaged again over 30 points, 32.45 point, 6 rebounds,

(42:51):
7.4 assists and was named FinalsMVP.
This was a statement when he couldn't do it by himself.
How? Many years did it take.
A lot. A long time.
Yeah. It took a couple years.
Seven. He was born in 78 and he got it
in 2009. I mean between the time that
Shaq had left. Yeah, it was six or seven years.

(43:12):
Three years, Yeah 'cause they maybe 5.
Somewhere around there somewhere, it was a number.
It was a number for sure. The next year in 2. 1000 of
hardcore information, we give you 1.
Yes, hard hitting journalism. Yeah, in 2010, it was personal.
The Lakers faced their archrival, the Boston Celtics.
Oh my gosh, let's go. Yes, yeah, I'm sure there was no

(43:36):
racial slurs thrown his way. That has never happened.
That's all bullshit. Oh, come on.
Don't even in the 70s and 80s maybe and Curry maybe Curry era
Boston. That would never fucking fly.
If someone yelled A racial slur at the Boston Garden, they would
get the shit beat out of them. Is that true trust?
Isn't that true? Yes, I've been believe it to

(43:59):
dozens, dozens and dozens of red.
And you got to get the shit beatout of you.
Yeah, and I was never the same. You can't even yell racial slurs
anymore. I bought a ticket.
My ticket's just as good as yourticket.
Not one time I've ever heard a racial slur at either of those
stadiums. Well, at Cal they might not be
addressed towards you. Well, no, but.
All right. No, you have to get it loud out.

(44:19):
OK, OK, Got it. I believe you.
I believe you believe. I don't want to be stereotyping
Boston. Yeah, don't be stereotyping
people's. It's a wonderful city full of
compassion and love for all. Yes, Boston.
Game marriage started there, don't forget it.
Oh. God, OK.
Let's give Boston some credit. You're welcome.
There you go. Thank you.
Game 7 was at Staples Center andit was ugly.

(44:42):
Kobe shot just six for 24, but he grabbed 15 rebounds and
trusted his teammates. Ron Artest, later who who later
became Metta World Peace. Love this guy.
We'll never understand that. Because he is the best.
He's all about peace, punching people in the face.
Yeah, well, no, he, no, he. Ron, our test was about punching
people in the face. Meta World Peace was about not
doing that. Oh.

(45:04):
Right, right, right. Meta World Peace hit a clutch 3
to seal the wind. Does that mean that people in
his off time call them meta? Yeah, you had to.
That was his name. Hey Meta or peace or peace?
Mr. Peace? Mr. Peace?
Mr. World Peace, Yeah. I love that for him.
I mean, he had some mental issues, but he brought him.
I love him. I love him, yeah.
I love my people with little mental problems.

(45:25):
I love that. I even forgot to skip over in
2008 when he went to the Finals before that and he was beat by
the one and only Boston Celtics,so I had to put that in there.
So the Celtics won in 2008 and they lost in 2010 because
Kendrick Perkins hurt his knee and he wasn't able to play Game
7 and that's that. I'm not going to say anything.
No arguments. For me.
What a team. Yeah, what a team.

(45:47):
Boston. Boston is.
What a team. Boston, What a team.
By 2010 Kobe had rewritten the narrative.
He wasn't just Shaqs sidekick anymore, he was the leader of
his own dynasty. Heck yeah.
But outside of that, his body started to fail him, you know,
injuries. Been playing for a long.
Time Yeah, on February 19th, 2011, Kobe was actually the

(46:08):
first athlete ever to have his handprints and footprints
enshrined outside of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
That's amazing. And why did they give it to him
and not Shaq? Well, that's a good question
because Shaq was long gone and Kobe Bryant personified Los
Angeles. Yeah, but Shaq was the actual
Did Kobe ever act? Like Shaq was actually like a
part of Hollywood. It was a thank you to him from

(46:30):
on behalf of the city, pretty much that's.
Crazy. If I was Shaq, it would have
been a little offended about. That yeah, I wonder if Shaq has
his now there he will at some point, yeah, if he wants.
I, I think it's kind of a strange thing anyway, everyone
just walks on him and. Yeah, people put their hands in
them after people put like spitting on them and stuff.
Yeah. Oh yeah.
So true. It's kind of gross.
Peeing on them and the Michael Jackson one, there's still a

(46:52):
line of people. People have vigils and they take
pictures. It's crazy.
That one's still the most popular by far.
Yeah, on April 12, 2013, againstGolden State, Kobe tore his
Achilles tendon. That can't feel good, no?
In classic Kobe fashion, he refused to leave the court
before shooting his free throws,so he knew it was gone.

(47:13):
When your Achilles snaps it justrolls up your leg.
Oh my God. So you have no leg stability at
all. Why were why are we designed
that way? And I just feel like we have one
massive issue. I mean, obviously it's the
Achilles heel. It's a liability, yeah.
God Dang. Why did it?
Why did he do it? Why did they let him do it?
Well, he wouldn't take no for ananswer so wow.
I mean, some would say that's why he got in trouble.

(47:35):
Well sure, but in this case he made him look like a hero.
Yes, but he aren't you not supposed to be able to walk?
No, so he could. He staggered there.
He sank both free throws and then limped off to Thunder his
applause. Wow, that is pretty epic, yeah,
especially considering you made both of them.
Yeah. Oh yeah, if you would have
missed, that would have been bad.
Yeah, that'd have been like, what, buddy?

(47:56):
Buddy, we told you to get off stage.
What are you doing? Get off, get off stage.
Put me back in coach. He returned in December only to
fracture a bone in his knee after six games.
So it's just not meant to be this year.
In January 2015, he tore his right rotator cuff and in yet
another season, each comeback ended with a new injury and his

(48:16):
body was breaking down. Wow, seems like it.
Athletes are amazing because anyof those, any of those, I'm just
like done did. He eat as many Jelly beans as he
could. Have I know right point?
Yeah, he. Should have been eating his
Jelly beans. Yeah, or did they change the the
fucking ingredients in the Jellybeans and now our bones are
weaker? Oh my God, this is what they get
for getting rid of that color red dye #1.

(48:38):
Exactly. Yeah, I loved red dye number one
My. Favorite of the dyes?
On November 29th, 2015, Kobe announced his retirement in the
Players Tribune with a poem titled Dear Basketball.
Did he write it? Yeah.
Yeah, he was very sentimental about it.
He. Was.
Sensitive. All right, A sensitive European

(48:59):
man, he. Is.
I'm not gonna make fun of him. Hot.
You can beat me up still. Probably.
Yeah, But he wrote a poem calledDeer Basketball.
Yeah, and it actually got him anaccolade, too.
What? What do you have the poem?
The I'm I'll play a little bit from the the feature film that
came out of it. OK, but yeah, he wrote.
Deal basketball. Please don't don't deflate.

(49:21):
You were a basketball. I love the you hit it.
I like you, you bouncing, I like.
You. Bouncing.
Never mind, I'm joking around. He wrote Quote, My heart can
take the pounding, my mind can handle the grind, but my body
knows it's time to say goodbye. And when you go through the hoop
and I hear the swoosh, I always think it's beautiful.

(49:44):
I well you. I was still in time.
I ejaculate. I'm sorry, play read it again
without me. He's, he's saying he's, he's
reading a love letter to to. Do basketball.
To basketball, yeah, And the hoop and the court and the he.
Didn't he didn't say. He didn't say that.
He just said to the ball itself,I think.
He said to your basketball, the sport.

(50:05):
As a whole, OK. The NBA turned his final season
into a farewell tour. Everywhere he went, fans
cheered, opponents honored him and arenas paid tribute.
Once booed on the road, he was now celebrated.
I love it, he. Deserves it.
Yeah. So he actually turned this into
a short film that won him an Academy Award band.

(50:26):
OK. I'm don't take it from me, I'm
an asshole. I'm cancelled.
What do I care? So let's see here a little bit
of it. I played for the sweat and the
hurt. Not because Challenge called me,

(50:48):
but because you called me. I did everything for you because
that's what you do when someone makes you feel as alive as
you've made me feel. You gave a six year old boy his
Laker dream and I'll always loveyou for it, but I can't love you

(51:13):
obsessively for much longer. This season is all I have left
to give. My heart can take the pounding,
my mind can handle the grind, but my body knows it's time to
say goodbye. All right, it's very sad today.
Show him as a get out of the spotlight.
I know that was so beautiful. I'm.

(51:34):
Really tearing up at 37 in his final game against the Utah
Jazz, Kobe produced one last miracle, 60 points.
He did shoot fifty shots, but. Hey, he wanted that.
Shooter shoot, baby. Let's go.
Wow, he scored 23 in the fourth quarter, carrying the Lakers to
a comeback. Win Celebrities like Jack
Nicholson, Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z filled the crowd.

(51:57):
That must have been such an emotional game for.
Everyone oh big I remember watching it and be like holy
shit. Yeah, just feeling the energy in
that room. I'm like about to cry just
thinking about it. Yeah, it was a nice.
Do I like sports? Now, yeah, you like you do like
some parts of sports I. Do like some parts of the.
Drama, the storylines, they're all there, man.
They're all there. It is a soap opera for men.

(52:17):
It is. It's.
It's for everybody, but. There's a patch treat?
There is. Ohh, I love it.
Yeah. One could say it's just very gay
the. Whole thing I said pageantry to
be nice, OK? It's pretty much like a drag
show. Yeah, it.
Is. Sports are a drag show.
You heard it here first. I wonder if a drag queen is torn
their Achilles. I'm sure during the performance.

(52:40):
Sure. Have you seen the death jobs
that they do? Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Jump off of like 5 foot stages and land in a split.
Right. Afterwards, Kobe grabbed the mic
at center court, his final wordsbeing Mamba out.
I'm out, Mama, out. He dropped the mic, walked off
and ended his career like only he could with a performance that

(53:00):
was both Hollywood and historic.When Kobe Bryant retired in
April 2016, many wondered what would come next.
Unlike most athletes, Kobe wasn't content with golf, TV
commentary or occasional appearances at games.
He wanted to build his second act as ambitious as his first.
And what was that? Well, before they had to retire
his number, so December 18th, 2017, the Lakers retired both of

(53:22):
Kobe's numbers, 8 and 24. Wow.
Making him the only player in NBA history to have two numbers
retired by the same team. That's crazy.
Just not allowed to have those numbers anymore.
No, no 1/2. 345679 Yep. And so on and so forth.
Yep, well, that's 'cause 78789. Because 7-8. 9 so 9's, that's

(53:43):
the real reason that yeah, we'regonna retire at 4, but also 8
because 7-8. Yeah, and seven, I guess should
be gone because it's accountable.
Yeah, it's a number of cannibal.Cannibal Staples Center raised
both jerseys to the rafters, cementing his twenty year career
as unmatched in longevity and reinvention.
True, true, Kobe said. Quote, When you grow up, you

(54:04):
dream of your jersey hanging in the rafters.
You don't dream of two. To be up there twice is beyond
words. Yeah, that's actually pretty
crazy. That's nuts.
It's awesome. Yeah, and also it is pretty
crazy that, you know, Kobe Bryant was a thorn in the side
of the Celtics for his entire career.
And it's Lakers, Celtics and thelast two championships that the
Celtics got were in O8 in 2024. Wow.

(54:26):
So it's a little kismet that we're talking about numerology.
Two hoarding Celtics in there. But 8 and 24?
He he really numerology he. Numerology, Celtics numerology.
That's right. Boston, Matt, can you align our
chakras? Really quick taint, no more.
Tank. No more tank talk.

(54:49):
Kobe's retirement letter Dear Basketball became the basis for
a short animated film partneringwith animator Glen Keane and
composer John Williams. That was that was John Williams
music score. And how do I know him?
In that film, he's done everything.
Star Wars Home Alone got you allthe all the big films.
Awesome. So yeah, the film traces his
journey from a six year old boy to a retiring legend.

(55:11):
Like I said, at the 2018 AcademyAwards, it won best animated
short film. Kobe became the first
professional athlete to win an Oscar.
That's. Fucking so crazy.
Yep, especially considering thatShaq was acting for so long.
No, Shaq has got to be kind of upset.
What about big? Shaq.
Yeah. He's like, are you fucking
kidding me? I was literally in movies.
I can't get an Oscar for Shazam or Shaq Foo.

(55:33):
This guy bullshit. This guy, he and he drew
something, he wrote something, it was drawn.
He gets a Nas. Come on.
I was involved in racial tension, OK, literally in
Florida, remember? The time I saw a hate crime.
Crime, yeah. Stop the hate.
Crime. You're welcome.
I didn't write a poem, sorry. He.
Didn't say he stopped it, he just said he responded to it so
he may have. Encouraged.

(55:53):
It Yeah, he might have just egged on going.
He checked. Shaq want to watch hate crime
big? Shaq like this?
Yeah, so he said in his Oscars acceptance speech.
He said, quote, as basketball players, we're really supposed
to just shut up and dribble. I'm glad we did a little bit
more than that. And he's going to do a lot more
than that for his true legacy, in my opinion, Yeah.

(56:17):
Yeah, He founded his own studios, Granite Studios.
It was a multimedia company focused on sports themed
storytelling, and he produced the Detail series for ESPN Plus,
where he broke down NBA games like a coach and wrote a series
of young adult books including the Wizonard series Wizonard,
Wizonard. OK.
Yeah, close to something else. Wiznard.

(56:38):
Wiznard, sure. Wiznard.
What were you thinking? I don't know.
Nards. Nards.
Yeah, I'm definitely thinking nards the the Wizard of the
Nards, which that's a whole nother thing.
Yeah, Kobe said. He wanted to inspire kids to C
sport not just as competition, but as a canvas for creativity.
Wow. Kind of ironic.
Kind of ironic though coming from him because he was like

(57:00):
I'll kill you. Yeah, that's true.
Yeah, In 2014, Kobe invested $6 million into body armor.
And when Coca-Cola acquired the majority stake in 2018, four
years later that investment ballooned to 200 million.
So he's just done so much off the court.
Perhaps Kobee most personal mission was advocating for

(57:21):
woman's basketball. His daughter Gianna, known as
Gigi, was an emerging star in the sport.
Kobe coached her AAU team at theMamba Sports Academy, and they
were often seen courtside at WNBA and college games together.
Yeah, it was super adorable. Yeah.
It was very cute. And then she was always getting
interviewed asking about like orlike or there was always this

(57:42):
thing about her being a boy and her and him having a boy to go
up after him. So it was really nice that he
had a daughter that like took upafter him.
Oh hell yeah, it was so talentedwith basketball as well.
Yeah, Kobe said the best way to inspire the next generation of
girls is to show them that they're valued as athletes.
That's what Gigi taught me. Which brings us to our final
chapter. For much of his career, Kobe

(58:03):
Bryant relied on helicopters to move around Los.
Angeles No, I don't want to do it.
I don't want him not ready. We can almost teleport people.
I don't understand how helicopters are still the most
dangerous fucking thing on earth.
I just take a plane. Helicopters is so much.
If anything goes wrong with a helicopter, you're so fucked.
With a plane, there's I know pilots.
They have told me the higher up you are, the more you have a

(58:24):
chance to survive. It's counterintuitive, but you
have more time to fucking figureit out.
Also, ask yourself. Ask yourself, can this be an
e-mail? Can this be an e-mail?
I have to get my helicopter. E-mail, Zoom.
If those are a no's, oh fine, but.
So he lived in Orange County, about 50 miles South of the
Staples Center. In LA traffic, that could mean

(58:45):
234 hours on the freeway each way.
Kobe once explained in an interview that driving was
eating away at time with his family.
So that's why he really did it, he said.
I'd miss school plays because I'd be stuck in traffic.
So I started looking at helicopters as a way to still
train, still practice and still be there for my family.
The helicopter became part of his routine, flying to games,

(59:05):
practices, even business meetings.
Teammates said it was normal to see Kobe step step off a chopper
right before practice, fully dressed and ready to go.
And so it's pretty cool. Yeah, it's really, really epic.
It's pretty badass He's. He's like, yeah, no, I just
don't. I just take my helicopter
everywhere now, guys. Yeah, I'll copter over to you.
You know what now? It'd be great to like, show up
to an event you know people don't want you at and

(59:26):
everything's just blowing the. Helicopter oh it's the best.
So annoying fuck. What?
What is that noise? It's it's Kobe.
Kobe's Kobe's. Kobe's coming.
We told him not to come here. By 2020, the helicopter was not
just a luxury for him, it was a lifestyle too that gave him more
hours in the day. So on the morning of Sunday,

(59:47):
January 26th, 2020, Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and seven
others boarded a Sikorsky S76-B helicopter at John Wayne Airport
in Orange County. Sounds like a Polish fucking
helicopter. The Sikorsky sounds like they
should be selling you a Bratwurst, not flying you across
country. I know that's nine people on the
plane. Yeah, that's a pretty they.

(01:00:08):
They said it was the helicopter.They said it's the Cadillac of
helicopters. That's what I meant, yes.
Helicopters. They were headed to the Mama
Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for a youth basketball
tournament. Passengers Kobe Bryant, age 41
Gianna Bryant, 13 John AltobelliCarrie Altobelli John's wife
Alyssa Altobelli Altobelli theirdaughter and Gianna's teammate.

(01:00:29):
Sarah Chester and Peyton Chester, mother and daughter
Peyton also Gianas teammate. Oh my God.
Christina Mauser, an assistant coach at the Academy in Ara
Zobian. It's so sad.
Who is the pilot and experience with Kobes Family Flights?
Okay so main driver dude. Yes.
So it's all mostly children? Yeah, I mean the children.

(01:00:51):
That morning, the LA basin was covered in dense fog so thick
that the LAPD grounded their helicopters.
They weren't even allowed to go out.
Wow, Dang buddy don't fly. I remember this day, it was
very, very cloudy and everythingwas super low.
Oh, you were in? LA for that I was in Van Nuys.
They flew right past us. Wow.
Yeah, I was still in Harlem, in New York City.
Yeah, I was in Brooklyn. I remember the day.

(01:01:12):
Oh. Shit.
Yes, Wow, it was very sad. Yeah, we're all stunned at my
local sports bar carbines. You know, visibility was
dangerous, dangerously low. Pilot Arazabayan.
However, he was certified to flywith Kobe regularly and was
trusted by the Bryant family. And I didn't realize how serious
fog is. The last time I drove across
country got stuck in some southern fog and that is the
scariest weather I have ever been in.

(01:01:33):
And you? Instinctually.
So because you can't put your lights on, yeah, you'd have to
turn your lights. Off.
You'd think, oh, I should put myhigh beams on, but when you do
that, you're instantly blinded, yeah.
Wow, it's really scary. So at 9 O 6:00 AM, the
helicopter took off from John Wayne Airport 920.
It circled near Glendale. So that's how quick you can go
from Orange County to right up here next to us where Glendale.
I could see why he would use this to save time. 14 minutes.

(01:01:56):
That's. Crazy.
It passed over the LA Zoo at 9:40, just 400 feet above the
ground, and air traffic controllers warned them of port
visibility. So at 9:45, the chopper turned W
towards Calabasas, flying low over the 101 freeway.
Moments later, it climbed suddenly and then descended
rapidly. At 9:47 AM, they slammed into a

(01:02:18):
hillside at about 180 miles an hour.
Oh my gosh. Bursting into flames.
And there was this. Christ.
There was some speculation the pilot got, I forget the term,
but it's basically when you're like, disorderly in it.
Yeah. And he thought he was going up,
when in reality he was going down.
Holy shit. It's.
Like when you can't find the topof the water.
Right, right. Yeah.
So they were pretty much following the 101 freeway.

(01:02:40):
So if they could see that they were that low, and then they
were like, all right, turn. And instead of going left, he
went right because left was wideopen, right was right into the
hillside. Oh my God.
But he couldn't see the hillsidebecause the fog.
Oh, God. So the National Transportation
Safety Board later ruled that the case was pilot error,
specifically Ben's point here, spatial disorientation.

(01:03:04):
Wow. In the fog, Zabayan lost
awareness of the helicopter's angle and altitude, believing he
was climbing when he was actually descending those.
Are that's very different. That is, it's like the opposite.
Investigators stressed that it was not mechanical failure.
There was no nothing that went abnormal.
The helicopter was airworthy. The tragedy lay in the decision
to fly in unsafe weather. That is just the craziest.

(01:03:27):
It is just so sad. I mean, I remember hearing about
it. It's like, first you find out,
first you find out it's Kobe, then there's there was
speculation about he was in there with his daughter and then
and then you find out that it's true and it's just, Oh my God,
what a insane tragedy. Unbelievable.
TMZ was the first to break the story just before noon, hours

(01:03:49):
before officials had contacted all the families.
They're such scumbags. And this is in the pre show live
thing that we're doing here for Patreon.
People were asking or Chris specifically asked if I'm
sitting there waiting for celebrities to die and have like
a script ready to go. I say no because I don't want
that karma. If someone just goes and we, you
know, write a story about it quickly after, that's fine.

(01:04:10):
But TMZ, they literally like masturbate.
They find out that someone. Died content.
We have so much content for today's stupid jerk off session
that we have in our office. Today.
Yay. Oh, let's go get this story,
guys. Yeah.
And they're like. Oh, that's a big one.
Families be damned, let's put itout there before they even
fucking know. Yeah, they got so I'm sure
you'll mention it, but they, they got treated so poorly,

(01:04:31):
those bodies. My God.
Yeah, the scoop sparked outrage,with the LA Sheriff Alex
Villanueva calling it wholly inappropriate.
Many family members learned of the deaths via TMZ and Twitter
notification. If Harvey Levin tells me a loved
one dies, I will. I mean, it's just not going to
go well. I have no, yeah, that's
absolutely. Little fucking he's such a

(01:04:51):
little troll. Yeah, I mean, I don't know if
you have specific things in mind, but I remember it's not in
the script, but there was someone that got in trouble for
sharing, like the death photos. Yes, and they act there was a
massive lawsuit and the Bryan family won quite a heavy
settlement. Oh shit.
Yeah. Because some, yeah, someone went
in there and took all the photosand then they shared the photos
and there was obviously not supposed to be shared.

(01:05:11):
And then the the Bryant estate sued and they won.
Wow. What do you?
Mean went in there and took photos like at the scene.
Yeah, the people, yeah, that were the first responders took
pictures and then they got leaked.
And then they got leaked, of course, because he sold them.
Terrible. And oh, what's scummery.
And yeah, it's like horrific stuff like that showed like
Kobe, his arm was like detached.Is that what it?

(01:05:33):
I think it was like obvious I don't want.
Seriously, they were really fucked up.
I. Heard, I heard he was like, you
know, sheltering and like grabbing onto his daughter.
Yes, yeah, there were people whowere embracing and stuff and I
believe that Gianna, but the force was too great for, you
know, certain things. Yeah.
And just, yeah, very, very fucking brutal.
Such a That was one of the biggest celebrity deaths.

(01:05:55):
Yeah, obviously, as of our time,yeah, they're all people.
And so you feel. But some you just feel more than
others. And literally Brooklyn was in
shock. I remember, like going out and
feel like, did you hear? Did you hear?
Did you hear? That's what it was all day.
Crazy. Yeah, news of Kobe's death
spread instantly across the world at the Grammys held that
night at the Staples Center. Alicia Keys opened the show by

(01:06:15):
saying we're all standing here heartbroken in the house that
Kobe Bryant. Built it was at the Staples
Center, yeah, so. It was literally that night.
NBA teams began taking 24 secondshot clock violations and eight
second back backcourt violationsin honor of Kobe's numbers.
Crowds gathered at Staples Center, covering the Plaza in
flowers, jerseys, basketballs and murals.

(01:06:37):
In Italy, where Kobe grew up, youth leagues held moments of
silence. In the Philippines, artists
painted massive murals of Kobe and Gianna on courts and
buildings. Across the NBA, players like
LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, TreyYoung wept openly on the court.
It's fucking crazy. I'm about to weep open.
I know I'm. Fucking choking up.
It really is one of the saddest celebrity deaths of all time.

(01:06:58):
It's just with the number of people and the ages of
everybody. He was a baby.
I'm older than him. I know he was 41.
Yeah, Oh my God. And his 13 year old daughter,
man. Fuck, that is just the saddest
thing. To this day, I still follow his
wife on Instagram. Yeah, it's just so
heartbreaking. And then there were rumors that
she's like pregnant now and people were like throwing her
onto the bus. This happened recently and I

(01:07:20):
don't even know if it's true. She's who cares?
Yeah, she has to move on. It's been, yeah.
You don't forget you have to move on at some point.
Yeah, we just passed the five year anniversary of this all
happening. Wow.
Yeah, it was 5. Years I should be graduating
high school right now. Oh that's brutal.
She would be in the WNBA. For sure, on February 20, I'll.
Tell you one thing, they won't be throwing fucking dildos on

(01:07:41):
the court if Kobe was in charge.Oh hell yeah, They wouldn't have
let that shit slide, not at all.On February 24th, 2020, chosen
for Gianna's number 2 and kobe's#24 the Lakers hosted a memorial
at Staples Center, Beyoncé sang XO, Jimmy Kimmel hosted, Michael
Jordan gave a tearful eulogy, and Vanessa Bryant delivered an

(01:08:02):
emotional tribute to her husbandand daughter.
I remember that, it was so sad. Mm hmm.
The memorial became a worldwide event broadcast live to
1,000,000. In April 2020, Kobe was
posthumously elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame. The ceremony, delayed by COVID
as fucking everything was, was held May 2021.

(01:08:24):
Vanessa Bryant accepted on his behalf.
Introduced by Michael Jordan, she said.
Congratulations baby, you're in the Hall of Fame.
You did it. So sad.
Oh God. So yeah, Kobe Bryant's death was
not just the loss of a sports star.
It was the loss of a father, mentor, creator, an all out
Global Icon. Completely.

(01:08:44):
And his Mama mentality lives on.He does.
He lives on forever. Yeah.
So with that, that's going to take us too.
Final. Thoughts.
It's dusty in here. Anti helicopter.
My final thought is I'm anti helicopter.
Yeah, fuck helicopter, man. Yeah, my.

(01:09:06):
Final thought is that is really beautiful.
Well, it's it's so serious. It's a strong family and it's
the fact that we I just love Mama mentality forever.
Yeah, my final thought is, you know, it's a wildlife sometimes.
And yeah, you got to take the good with the bad and try to
rise above it all. Yep.

(01:09:28):
And that's exactly what he fucking did, yeah.
All right, well, hug your loved ones, everybody.
Seriously. You.
Never fucking know. He seemed invincible.
The whole family seems invincible.
And we are not. We are not all right.
Everyone will. Love yourself, be yourself.
Hail yourself. And until next week.
Don't go dying on us. Bye.

(01:09:50):
You have just heard. A true Hollywood murder mystery.
I have never seen anything like this before.
The movies, Broadway, music, television, all of it.
A place that manufacturers. Nightmares.
OK, everybody, that's a wrap. Goodnight.
Please drive home carefully and come back again soon.