Kyrie Irving was a huge fan of Kobe Bryant growing up and when he entered the league, the Los Angeles Lakers legend welcomed him with open arms. They had a solid relationship for years which is why Irving was so distraught when Kobe tragically passed away in a helicopter crash back in January. Since Kobe's death, multiple players have shared some of their favorite stories regarding the legend. Recently, Irving did the exact same thing during an Instagram live session.
Irving spoke about a particular moment in which Kobe dropped 42 on him. What made the game so special was an instance in which Kobe blocked Kyrie and then got the bucket going the other way.
Per Kyrie:
“Kobe had 42 points that game and he guaranteed that he was gonna give us 40. So I get it at the top of the key, I hear the crowd and the crowd was like; they;re all erupting silently. They’re like: ‘oh!!’ and everybody starts clapping like: ‘oh yeah!’ and it's at the top of the key. Now what does that remind you of?
Back in the city, back in Jersey, when you get in that moment, this is your time. So I get at the top of the key and I make a move, he stutters for a minute and I spin. When I spun, this dude was waiting for that and he punched that shit. He punched it, he punched it bro.”
Irving's story is yet another example of just how great the Black Mamba was. Needless to say, this entire NBA season is dedicated to Kobe.
50 Cent Praises Pop Smoke & Shares Why He "Fell In Love With The N*gga"
50 Cent hopped on Instagram Live to talk about why he admired the late Pop Smoke and touched on executive producing his posthumous album.
Everyone else hit up Instagram Live on Tuesday (March 24), so 50 Cent decided to throw his hat in the ring. The rap mogul played a few old school jams while viewers tuned in, and of course, Fif plugged his alcohol brands unashamedly. During the Live session, 50 Cent took some time to talk about the late Pop Smoke and shared a memory of the 20-year-old that impressed him.
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“See, Pop Smoke, that was one of my favorites. I liked that n*gga, man. I swear to God, I like that n*gga man,” 50 Cent said. “I met him. We was talking, and I was like, yo. I’m watching him, right. He keep playing with his phone. These little n*ggas play with they phone all the time. I’m like yo, what the f*ck is wrong with this n*gga?”
Fif was getting a little irritated because Pop Smoke was looking at this phone nonstop, but realized that Pop was writing down everything that he was saying. “I said, ‘Oh sh*t,'” Fif recalled. “See it’s a difference between a n*gga copying you. That’s not copying. He never copied one f*cking thing from me. He just looked at it, he saw what was good in it. It influenced him, and he was doing his own thing with it. I fell in love with the n*gga at that point.”
He continued to praise Pop Smoke for paying attention to a veteran giving him some game. 50 Cent also touched on executive producing Pop’s posthumous album and what fans can expect from it. Swipe through below to listen to 50 Cent share memories about Pop Smoke, talk about his thoughts on hip hop’s youth culture’s inability to articulate what they’re going through, and drop some gems on his Instagram Live.
Iman Shumpert Shares Inspirational & Hilarious Kobe Bryant Stories
Iman Shumpert chatted with “Ebro in the Morning” about Kobe Bryant and dropped a few memories he had with the late basketball icon.
Now that he’s a free agent, Iman Shumpert has more time to work on his music career. The NBA star stopped by Ebro in the Morning to discuss his hip hop ventures, although he didn’t give them a date of when fans could expect to hear his full-length project. Iman did, however, chat about his friend Kobe Bryant and shared a memory of when the late basketball icon visited his high school.
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“I can’t remember if somebody asked a question, but basically he was speaking on people sayin’, ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ type of thing, ‘Don’t spend all your money in one place’ type of vibe,” Iman recalled. “And he said he never believed in it, because he felt, ‘If I’m putting all my eggs in a basket to go for this, if I failed, and this basket drop and all the eggs break, why nobody told me I can just make more eggs?’ Of course, he said it with conviction. He stared straight through us… But he couldn’t see me, and I felt it,” Shumpert continued. “I was just like, ‘He just really believes what he’s saying.’ And he wants it to inspire me and it did. That was my inspiration story.”
Iman also shared a second tale of a time that he was guarding Kobe during a game at Madison Square Garden. “I can’t remember how much he had, but I know I had multiple steals against him,” Shumpert said. “In my head, all I’m thinking of is, ‘When I have this conversation with my brother after the game, how I’m gonna tell him how I stole the ball from Kobe, how I stripped Kobe before he was finna’ to take a shot, how I drove by Kobe and got a dunk.’ I’m thinking about all these things in my head. I’m like, so geeked.”
Then, as soon as the fourth quarter began, things shifted. “Fourth quarter starts, and Kobe said, ‘You had a great game, young fella,'” Iman remembered. “I swear I looked at the clock, like, ‘There’s 12 minutes. What you talking about? What was that?’ You ain’t said nothing the whole game. I’ve been talking sh*t, I done stole the ball, I’m hyped as hell. It’s Kobe Bryant. He ain’t said not one word to me.” Immediately Kobe began making moves that solidified in Iman’s mind that the Los Angeles Lakers icon was indeed superhuman. Check out Iman Shumpert’s full interview with Ebro in the Morning below.
