Photo Credit: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images
LeBron James Reportedly Wasn’t Pleased With Kobe Bryant’s Shot Selection In 2008 Olympics: “Bullsh*t Shots”
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were always pitted against each other for the most part of their NBA careers, but in 2008, the two basketball icons were able to become teammates as part of the 2008 United States men’s Olympic basketball team, also known as the ‘Redeem Team’.
Many have told classic stories about that star-studded USA team, especially stories which involve Kobe Bryant who served as a mentor and leader for LeBron and the rest of the team.
In an episode of ‘The Dream Team Tapes’ on Spotify, head coach Mike Krzyzewski recalled a moment when Kobe was taking horrible shots in the first half of a game – a scenario that didn’t sit well with the former Cleveland Cavaliers superstar.
“We’re gonna win and in the first half, Kobe started taking Kobe Laker shots, which they had not been doing…and LeBron… he looks at me. And I know we got a real problem. I said I will take care of this, trust me…”
“So we were up all night as a staff… trying to figure out how to handle this. And I said give me his shots on a computer and I’ll have an individual meeting with Kobe. So I’m… really apprehensive…. but I said gotta do it. I said I’d take care of it.”
At that time, Kobe already had a decorated career with three NBA championships, multiple All-NBA and All-Star appearances, as well as two scoring titles and monstrous single-game performances like his 81-point game and 60-point game in only three quarters.
Despite his established resume and proven scoring prowess, Coach K had to let him know that he didn’t have to take those ‘Laker shots’, knowing that he was playing on the same team alongside two elite scorers in Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.
“So I brought him in and I said, look I wanna talk to you about shot selection. Let’s stake a look at these shots and I said ‘they’re bulls*it shots. You can’t do that when you have Carmelo and LeBron. It erodes what we’re doing.”
“So I don’t know what I’m gonna get, but what I get is like a gift from god. He just said, ‘You’re right, I won’t do that. What else?’” Mike revealed.
