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After Iverson Dropped 41, Kobe Bryant Became Obsessed With Never Allowing It To Happen Again

Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant both came out of the 1996 NBA Draft and became villains as the years passed. Other than yearly meetings in the regular season, their most famous battle came in 2001 when Iverson’s Philadelphia 76ers took on Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. Los Angeles won the championship defeating Philadelphia 4-1. One of the reasons the Lakers won this championship was due to Kobe studying every move of Iverson after he dropped 41 on him in 1999.

Kobe Bryant admitted after Allen Iverson dominated him for 41 points on March 19, 1999, he became obsessed with never allowing that to happen again.

Every matchup became a “matter of life and death,” according to the five-time champion. When Bryant joined Jim Rome on his podcast, he explained what Iverson taught him:

“That put him on my permanent radar. Now he’s my obsession. I’m going to figure him out. This is never happening again. I kept the stat sheet. It just sat with me. From that point forward I read everything about him. I watched every game he played…Sometimes you have those moments where great players bring the best out of you. And he certainly did that for me because he helped me find another gear of preparation.”