Kobe Bryant was a bit of a late bloomer, but once he took off, he became arguably the greatest player in Los Angeles Lakers history.
Notably, Robert Horry was there to witness it all from the start, as he saw him rise to stardom right before his eyes.
In a recent appearance on Matt Barnes’ and Stephen Jackson’s “All The Smoke,” the former Lakers forward reminisced of Kobe’s early days in the league, stating that everybody could see how special and determined he was as he worked out every day.
.@RKHorry had a front row seat to Kobe’s rise to stardom.
Full episode with Mr. 7 Rings drops tomorrow on the @shobasketball YouTube 💨 pic.twitter.com/5OIaddBEs6
— SHOWTIME Basketball (@shobasketball) June 1, 2023
Moreover, he gave Shaquille O’Neal a lot of credit for being mature enough to allow Kobe to grow and do his thing, getting out of his way on every other play because he realized he needed Kobe to be better if he wanted to win an NBA championship.
Horry cited the importance of Shaq’s understanding that even though it was still his city and he was the biggest star, Kobe’s rise was only going to help him achieve his ultimate goal, which they obviously did.
It’ll forever be a shame that the Shaq-Kobe duo wasn’t together for longer.
They could’ve been the most dominant tandem in the history of this league, even ahead of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Ironically, though, it also allowed Kobe to grow into the player he was, as he had to take the reins on his own and single-handedly take care of business, strengthening that competitive and killer mindset that made him the legend he was.
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