Playing for the Los Angeles Lakers is a dream for many guys in the league. However, Kent Bazemore got a rude awakening of how tough it could be to play under the bright lights of Hollywood and in front of the unforgiving Kobe Bryant in his first stint with the team.
In his first appearance for the Lakers after a trade from the Golden State Warriors in the middle of the 2013-14 season, Bazemore helped his new squad defeat the Boston Celtics . Still, Bryant was apparently left unimpressed.
“I’ll never forget,” Bazemore told HoopsHype . “I got traded from Golden State to LA on a Thursday. I fly out Friday morning. I do my physical. Come back good and ready to go. We play Boston on ESPN Friday night. Kobe was in the back, and that was kind of my first time seeing him. I didn’t really want to be embarrassed by him, so in my mind the whole game, I’m like, ‘I’m going to play extremely hard and do my thing.'”
“We’re in the locker room after the game, all excited we beat Boston. He walks in, and he’s like, ‘Y’all motherf*ckers still suck,'” Kent added.