The late Kobe Bryant is often remembered fondly by teammates, those he competed against, and even the fans who watched him play. However, one of his childhood friends, Kevin Sanchez, does not share those feelings.
Sanchez talked about his experience in prison on the YouTube talk show 'Blood on The Razor Wire' hosted by Chad Marks. Sanchez shared that he thought his friend Kobe was going to help him out financially after he got out of prison but that never happened.
In his story, he talked about how he waited for Kobe during one of the Lakers' trips to Philadelphia.
"This is when I really found out he was a piece of s***," Sanchez said. "This right here is what made me be like 'you know what, f*** him.' I waited in the rain, it was freezing outside. I waited out there the whole time freezing. I saw the little tour bus that [the LA Lakers] was in. I see Shannon Brown and a bunch of the players."
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Soon, it was Kobe's turn to get off the bus and as soon as he did, Sanchez called to him. The old friends started a conversation, during which Sanchez asked Kobe for help to get back on his feet by hooking him up with connections or by employing him.
Kobe reportedly agreed to help and handed Sanchez a phone number but when he called, he simply reached an assistant. Ultimately, he never got to speak to Kobe directly and never received any assistance.
Fast forward to when Kobe played his last game, Sanchez said he got to speak with Kobe's cousin who shared with him that the Lakers star "was a certified piece of s***" and that he "never did nothing for nobody" including his family.
Kevin Sanchez and Kobe Bryant formed a friendship when the latter came back to Philadelphia after his time in Italy. Sanchez reportedly gave Kobe some pointers on how to rap as per an article on Grantland from 2013.
Also read: Former Kobe Bryant teammate champions Paul George as Lakers' missing piece for silverware
Kobe Bryant and Kevin Sanchez used to rap together
When he was younger, Kobe Bryant seemingly had aspirations to be a rap artist. He even dropped a single called K.O.B.E which featured supermodel Tyra Banks. However, his hip-hop career never took off.
Part of how Kobe became involved in hip-hop was his friendship with Kevin Sanchez who rapped in high school. Sanchez and Kobe were part of a local Philadelphia hip-hop group CHEIZAW as per Grantland.
Sanchez admitted that Kobe had hip-hop talent but he chose basketball over anything else.
Kevin Sanchez tweeted Kobe Bryant back in 2013
Once something has been placed on the internet, it usually lingers there forever and that's exactly what happened to a tweet from Kevin Sanchez when he tried to reconnect with Kobe.
On Jan. 31, 2013. Sanchez sent out a tweet tagging Kobe. In his tweet, Sanchez said that he was thinking of moving to LA and he had some music he wanted to show the Lakers star but the tweet went unanswered.
Kobe never responded and it seems the friendship between the two simply faded over time.
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