Warriors’ Klay Thompson Talks About First Time Guarding Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant’s Lakers are no longer in the playoffs, but Klay Thompson’s Golden State Warriors still are. Thompson, in an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday morning, talked about his practice regimen, gameday rituals, and what it was like guarding Bryant for the first time.Thompson, who grew up watching his father Mychal play for the Lakers (amongst other teams), was a Laker fan as a youngster. But now as a member of the Warriors, Kobe and the Lakers are some of his biggest rivals.

—-Want to show off your Kobe love? Check out this VINO t-shirt!—-

Klay talked about the first time he guarded Bryant, and the experience he still remembers.

“My welcome to the NBA moment was probably when I was playing the Lakers down at Staples for the first time in front of all my friends and family. Just guarding Kobe was a crazy experience. The moves he had, the calls he was going to get. I can see from the stands – man this guy gets a lot of calls, but I can see he deserves them. He’s a Hall of Famer. But you know, guarding him is a tough thing to do.”

Patrick asked Thompson if Kobe, a player who likes to chirp a bit on the court, if he had anything to say to Klay during their first matchup.

“I don’t think he did. I think he did tell me congrats and he did try to put me in the post a couple times. I did pretty well for my first time.”

But overall, how did the experience go for Klay, and most importantly to Laker fans – how did Bryant do in his first game against Klay?

“Well t’s tough when all your friends and family have to be at that one game – and I think he had 40 on us. No, I think it was 38. All my friends have to be Laker fans, too, they’ve yet to convert to Warrior fans, so I had that working against me too.”

With the emerging Warriors, the division rivalry between the Lakers and Golden State should continue to blossom over the next few seasons. Still, with Thompson looking like a future All-Star caliber player, it’s fun to hear about his first experience guarding the Laker legend.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Have You Seen Our Top 5 Kobe Dunks Of The 2012-2013 Season? If not, check out our video below and don’t forget to click here to subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

You May Also Like

Lakers News: John Calipari Says ‘I Wouldn’t’ Take Lakers Job If Offered

University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari has been in the news…

Lakers News: Kyle Kuzma Proud To Host Children From Inaugural Basketball Camp At Pistons Game

Although Kyle Kuzma is only in his second season, he’s carried himself like a veteran and shown a commitment to…

Lakers News: Shaquille O’Neal Calls Best Decision Of His Career Was Embracing Playing With Kobe Bryant, Penny Hardaway

Shaquille O’Neal is widely considered one of, if not, the best big man in the history of the NBA. O’Neal has…

Report: Magic End Trade Discussions for Dwight Howard

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports the Orlando Magic are no…