Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis is one of the handful of current NBA players who had a real relationship with the late, great Kobe Bryant. In fact, before Davis ever stepped foot on an NBA floor, he was Kobe’s teammate during the 2012 Olympics where their bond began.
It would continue to grow through the years and now Davis continues to try to uphold the legacy of Kobe with the Lakers. Like so many others, Davis has plenty of great Bryant stories, but for the Lakers big man the one he loves most is more personal than most.
Davis took part in a workout video for YouTube personality Faze JSmooth. Afterward, he answered a couple of questions and when asked for his favorite Bryant memory, he recalled Kobe forming a connection with his young daughter:
“My favorite Kobe memory though is when, I actually have a video of it. I was at his gym, Mamba Academy out in Thousand Oaks and I just had my daughter. Brought her to the gym I was working out, and he was there that day and she was maybe seven months, eight months or something like that. And he grabbed her and she never really went to anybody, but she just had so much joy and she was so happy, smiling, laughing with him. That was just so dope for me to see, someone who has all girls and Mambacitas basketball-wise. He was able to make her smile, make her laugh and he just played with her and she was just in a joyful space. And he was like, ‘Man whenever she’s ready to work come join the Mambacitas, she’s always got a home here.’ So just him being connected with my daughter and she was seven, eight months at the time.
“And even to this day I have a collage of pictures of me and Kobe throughout the career, Olympics, hanging out whatever, in my basement downstairs. And she always would go past it, she first asked me when I was at my other house she was like, ‘who is this?’ and I explained it to her, who he was, showed her the video and said ‘this is Uncle Kobe.’ And she was like, ‘well where is he I wanna meet him’ and I explained to her about what happened and the tragedy and everything like that. And now anybody she shows the house she walks passed the picture and says, ‘this is my daddy’s friend, and this is my uncle, Uncle Kobe.’ So just having that memory to show her and how connected they were when she was just seven, eight months old. So that’s gotta probably be my favorite, special Kobe moment off the floor is with my daughter for sure.”
Kobe was always known for being a ‘girl dad’ so him immediately bonding with Davis’ daughter Nala is no surprise. And for her to embrace that connection, even though she was far too young to remember it, is a special moment that would obviously stand out to Davis.
There is no doubt that the Lakers star will never get rid of that video and it is just more proof of the impact Kobe had on so many, that will live on forever.
Kobe Bryant among three Lakers in Stephen Curry’s all-time starting lineup
Meanwhile, Bryant continues to be brought up amongst the greatest players of all-time even by the current stars. Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry recently listed him in his all-time starting lineup along with two other Lakers.
After initially mentioning Larry Bird, Curry changed his mind and added Kobe to the lineup with fellow Lakers legends Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson with Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan rounding out the list.
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