"He'd score 80 points before I got one basket"- When Kobe Bryant schooled his high school teammates by destroying them in a one-on-one battle

Kobe Bryant’s relentless desire to be better and win championships regularly rubbed people the long way for most of his Hall of Fame career. Bryant’s often maniacal drive to excel at all costs didn’t start when the LA Lakers traded for him in 1996.

Per a Sports Illustrated article in 2008, the Philadelphia native was already so engrossed with the details of winning that several of his teammates feared him. One of his former teammates, Rob Schwartz, had this to say about what it was like to compete with and against Bryant:

"We'd play games of one-on-one to 100. Sometimes he'd score 80 points before I got one basket. I think the best I ever did was to lose 100--12."

Schwartz added that Kobe Bryant would sometimes be furious he’d let someone reach at least 10 points in those games. He would get mad if his team couldn’t get their drills right and went at people who he thought were taking it easy in practice.

Over the years, players who had the chance to go up against “KB24” in scrimmage, practice, or games would narrate tales of Bryant’s smoldering competitiveness. Tracy McGrady, Penny Hardaway, Gary Payton and others have recalled how Bryant just could never turn off his desire to win.

Even when Kobe Bryant wasn’t as effective and consistent in his rookie year, he never doubted that he was better than most. He averaged only 7.6 points on 41.7% shooting but would nag former coach Del Harris to just give him the ball and score.

Harris argued that Bryant’s arsenal wasn’t yet complete and they also had peak Shaquille O’Neal who consistently destroyed defenses. The “Black Mamba” relented but knew in his heart he would become the team’s alpha male in the years to come.

After losing to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, the LA Lakers moved Shaq to the Miami Heat. The big man would later tell everyone that Bryant’s pushing forced the team to trade him to the East.

Bryant finally had his team. It was now up to him to prove he could lead the Lakers to a championship, something Shaquille O’Neal accomplished thrice (2000-2002).

Here's the full SI article

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Kobe Bryant eventually reached the top of the NBA as the main franchise player

A year after he was traded to the Miami Heat, Shaquille O’Neal won his fourth championship. Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, missed the playoffs in O’Neal’s first year in Miami. Bryant reached the postseason the next two seasons but lost in the first round.

The “Black Mamba” was so frustrated that he wanted to be traded. He sent feelers to the LA Clippers, the Lakers’ cross-hall rivals and to a few other teams. It wasn’t until the front office landed former Memphis Grizzlies star Pau Gasol that the team started to look like a legit title hopeful.

In the first year of the Gasol-Bryant partnership, they topped the Western Conference but were beaten by the Boston Celtics. Boston’s Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett proved to be strong for the Hollywood team.

In the next two seasons, Bryant would conquer the top of the NBA once again. The Lakers won the 2009 title before “KB24” avenged his bitter loss to the Celtics in 2010.

Kobe Bryant became a five-time champion and retired in 2012. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame posthumously after dying in a helicopter crash in 2020.

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