Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Luka Doncic wasn’t the only player to sign a max extension this past week as the San Antonio Spurs agreed to a four-year deal with De’Aaron Fox. And like many of the top players in the league today, Fox was able to establish a connection with Lakers legend Kobe Bryant before his tragic passing.
Fox has long been known as one of the most fierce competitors in the NBA today. A former All-Star who might be the fastest player in the league, Fox is now locked in with the Spurs where he will look to lead them alongside phenom Victor Wembanyama. But even years later, his conversations with Kobe still stand out to him.
In an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Fox spoke about how his conversations with the Lakers legend impacted him both on and off the court:
De’Aaron Fox’s late night conversation with Kobe Bryant changed everything 🫡⁰⁰Congratulations to the Spurs point guard on his extension with San Antonio!⁰⁰ALL THE SMOKE with @swipathefox is available on our YouTube! pic.twitter.com/BJljR10TMA
— All the Smoke (@allthesmokeprod) August 4, 2025
Like Fox said, Kobe was a teacher and the fact that he openly offered these camps to impart his knowledge to the next generation shows just how much he loved the game and wanted to see it thrive. That was also seen in his dedication to coaching his daughter’s team as Bryant just had a love for the game that few others did.
It is why his impact is still felt to this day. Nearly a decade after he played his final game for the Lakers, so many still talk about that Mamba Mentality driving them, and even Fox noted how his mindset carrying over to someone like Stephen Curry makes him even more difficult to defend. There simply are very few people like Bryant to ever walk this earth and Fox counts himself as fortunate to have been able to spend the time with him that he did.
Lakers superstar Luka Doncic admits to being nervous meeting Kobe Bryant for the first time
Luka Doncic, like De’Aaron Fox, was also fortunate enough to have met Kobe Bryant a couple of times before his passing and still counts the Lakers legend as one of his idols. And Doncic recently revealed that he was extremely nervous and could barely speak when meeting him for the first time.
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