There are a lot of names that are brought up when discussing the greatest rivals of Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant. But one who isn’t mentioned nearly enough is former All-Star guard Richard Hamilton, who spent the majority of his 14-year NBA career with the Detroit Pistons.
Bryant and Hamilton were actually part of the same high school basketball class and grew up together just outside of Philadelphia. And during those years, the two developed a long-term friendship that lasted all the way up until Kobe’s untimely passing.
Hamilton recently opened up about his friendship with Bryant, noting that the two had many conversations growing up and how the Pistons’ victory over the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals was a sweet bit of revenge from losing to Kobe in high school, via NBC Sports Philadelphia:
“Being two kids from small towns outside of Philadelphia, we still had to go to Philadelphia to get our respect. Respect wasn’t given to us and that happens especially when you’re not city kids. So we had a lot of internal conversations about how to make it and how we gotta be even tougher because going into the city, kids just thought that we wasn’t one of them. So we gotta come out and be that much better and we gotta compete at a high level. So for him to have success at Lower Merion, they beat us in the district championship which I was very upset about and I wish I could have that moment back, but aye, it is what it is. But to be roommates during AAU events, to have them conversations on what it’s gonna be like if we both make it to the pros. Playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game together and competing against all the great talent. Him going straight from high school and me going to college for three years. And my first phone call was to Kobe about what are the expectations that I’m gonna have when coming to the NBA. So them conversations are conversations that I hold close to my heart. And to your point, to be able to play in the NBA Championship against each other, and get my get back at that game, that’s something that is super special for myself. But that’s my brother, I love him to death. But to be able to share them type of moments, from a 16-year old kid all the way to both of us being NBA Champions, that don’t happen. It just doesn’t happen and it’s something special that I keep close to my heart.”
It is always the things behind the scenes, that most fans don’t see, that really forge these types of friendships. As Hamilton said both he and Bryant were kids with basketball dreams who had to earn their respect in Philly and that bonded them together for many years.
Even though they went through many battles on the court, that connection off of it lasted a lifetime and those memories Hamilton has of the Lakers legend will never go away.
Lakers star LeBron James opens up about his motivation growing up
LeBron James was still a young kid when Kobe Bryant and Richard Hamilton were dominating the Philadelphia high school basketball scene, but like them he had big basketball dreams at a young age and the Lakers superstar recently talked about what motivated him growing up.
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