Kobe Bryant was known to be a fearless competitor. Sometimes, this attitude went off the court, like the time when Kobe fearlessly stood his ground against a gangster.
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This fearless attitude from Kobe didn’t occur after a few years in the NBA. No, he brought it with him into the league. Even as an 18-year-old kid, Kobe was fearless.
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This was no more true than when Kobe was out at a bar with a friend early in the morning. At this bar, near Kobe and his friend, sat a street gangster, wearing really baggy clothes. Kobe being the young kid he was, started cracking jokes about the man’s outfit.
The gangster proceeded to threaten Kobe and told him to go outside. Once outside, the man held a gun at Kobe. This was where Kobe stood his ground and showed his toughness.
The friend with Kobe on that night was businessman Steve Stoute. He once told the story of Kobe and the gangster in an interview on Club Shay Shay.
“We go out to a diner at like two or three in the morning. The same street guy is sitting there and Kobe is making jokes about his outfit and being a little loud…
“The guy sends somebody over like, ‘blah blah wanna talk to you’. I go outside, he got the gun out, and I’m like, ‘Yo, he’s a young man, I’m trying to tell him’. That guy didn’t even know who Kobe Bryant is.
“Kobe comes outside and sees the gun. I’m like, ‘Go back in’ and he’s like, ‘I’m not going nowhere’. He did this, on 23rd and 9th Avenue, he did that at 18.”
(Starts at 6:08)
The fact Kobe, only being 18 years old, had the confidence to stand up to a known street gangster who was pointing a gun at him, is remarkable… and a little foolish, at the same time.
Yeah, that’s some real Mamba Mentality.
