Kevin Durant: Kobe Bryant’s trash talk revealed the future of Los Angeles Lakers – NBA News
Kobe Bryant had earlier said that as one of the senior members of the U.S basketball team which played in the London Olympics, he felt like it was his responsibility to get the other players on the team relaxed and loose around
each other, so that they gained a comfort level with each other quickly, which is critical for the success of the team and translates into good team work on the court.
Bryant was playing in his third Olympics, and in one of the most respected basketball players in the NBA. Hence, he wanted to take the lead in creating a friendly atmosphere in the squad.
And what method did Bryant use to achieve that goal?
Well, he did a lot of trash talk.
Bryant, in typical baller fashion, started trash talking to other players on the team, so that they would reply and feel a level of comfort and friendship with each other.
However, one of the things Bryant said to his team mates during their run together did not turn out to be just a smack talk.
Kevin Durant recently revealed in an interview that Kobe had told his team mates that Dwight Howard and Steve Nash were going to be acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers weeks before the acquisition actually happened.
Durant was talking to Marc Spears from Yahoo Sports recently;
“Kobe called that a month before it happened. I didn’t believe him. He was just like, ‘We are going to have Dwight. We are going to have Steve Nash.’ He just talks a lot of trash, jokes and laughs. But he said it. I don’t think
anyone paid attention to it but me and him. He said it and it happened. And they got better, a lot better. Dwight’s name was being thrown on every team. Houston, Brooklyn, the Lakers. But I guess he called it right,” said Durant.
At that time, the possibility of Steve Nash joining the Lakers was a distant one, as he had offers from the Toronto Raptors and a few other teams, but the Lakers were not one of them.
Howard was also rumoured to be interested in the Brooklyn Nets, and there were teams such as the Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks trying to land him. The Lakers entered the race late, and even then it seemed they did not have
all the pieces to pull a trade through.
It must have come as a shock to Kobe’s team mates in the U.S basketball team when first Nash, and then Howard joined the Lakers. Their addition has made the Lakers the best team in the NBA, on paper at least.
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