Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue recalls that time Kobe tried to fight him

By foxsports
Published

Kobe Bryant's on-court reputation is that of an overly-obsessed competitor who values nothing more than winning every single thing he's involved with. At times, it reveals itself in unsavory ways. 

As Bryant's teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers, Tyronn Lue saw Kobe's dark side on multiple occasions. The now-Cleveland Cavaliers head coach recounted that it once nearly resulted in a fist-fight (via ESPN):

"Long story short is, it was a game point and [Bryant] drove baseline and I was at the elbow. And he drove baseline and I went down the lane and I pinned his dunk against the glass. He tried to dunk it and I blocked it against the glass. We came down, Devean George made a layup for game and Brian Shaw went, ‘Ahhh, he blocked you!' He went crazy. Kobe wanted to fight me at first and then, second, he wanted to play one-on-one after practice. "'We going to play one-on-one, me and you.' I said, ‘No, I'm not playing you one-on-one.' He was so mad and then, after that, it was just, every day we stepped onto the court, he just went after me every single day. It was crazy. And then, like other stories, just playing one-on-one every day, every time we acquired a new guy, he would play those guys one-on-one after every practice just to show them, like, ‘I'm the man, I'm the man.' Did the same thing with Glen Rice. Just his competitive nature, man, it was just unbelievable."

This is the type of story that adds to Bryant's standing as the second most competitive NBA player of all time (behind only Michael Jordan). The 37-year-old absolutely can't stand losing, even in practice, and he didn't hesitate to physically confront guys on his own team if the situation called for it.

Is this behavior acceptable on any level? Not really, no. But for whatever reason, it's a characteristic we admire in athletes we liken to icons. Bryant really loved to win, but he hated losing even more. And that's a huge reason why he's the most polarizing, beloved and feared player of his generation.