Even though he only spent one season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Caron Butler has always spoken very fondly about his time in L.A. and as a teammate of the late, great Kobe Bryant. And likewise, Kobe always spoke highly of Butler as someone he enjoyed playing with.
Anyone who has played with Bryant always has some excellent stories to share and that is certainly the case with Butler. And he recently shared an outstanding one from when the Lakers were in Charlotte in need of some last-second heroics to win the game.
Butler appeared on The OGs Podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller and recalled Kobe completely erasing a play being drawn up and asking his Lakers teammates who wants to be part of history before getting on the court and making good on his word:
“The time we was in Charlotte. I don’t know if it was Rudy T or Frank Hamblen, they was drawing up a play. Rudy T left halfway through the season so it might’ve been Frank Hamblen. Whoever our coach was at the time he was drawing up the play, Kobe just kinda wiped the board real quick he was like, ‘Hey, who the f— wanna be a part of history?’ Lamar [Odom] was like ‘Shit I wanna be a part of history,’ he’s like ‘OK, you take the ball out, I’m gonna get open right here, throw it to me, everybody run out the tunnel. Game.’
“True story, dawg. Nobody knew where to go on the court just like, he’s gonna catch it somewhere right here, just get the f— out the way. And that’s what happened, in real-time he was like ‘Whoever wanna be part of history throw me the ball, I’m gonna be right here.’ And that’s what happened.”
No matter how many of these kinds of Bryant stories are told, they never seem to get old. Kobe was simply a one-of-a-kind person and these memories are ingrained in the minds of his teammates like Butler and surely Odom remembers this story as well.
It is one thing to talk how he talked, but for Kobe to regularly back up his words is what makes him special and is why so many of his peers place the Lakers legend so highly on their all-time lists.
Signed Kobe Bryant Lakers jersey from torn achilles game sells for $1.22 million
One of the most infamous moments from the career of Kobe Bryant came when he tore his Achilles in 2013. With the Lakers battling for a playoff spot, Kobe would somehow grit through the pain, walk to the free throw line and make two free throws before slowly walking off the court.
And now the jersey from that game has sold through auction for $1.22 million, as was announced by Goldin. The jersey was also signed by Bryant, raising the price and demand that much more.
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