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DeMar DeRozan recently shared his favorite Drew League story, and it involved the late great Kobe Bryant. DeRozan has been a staple in the pro-am summer basketball league, while Bryant had a memorable game winner in 2011.
In an appearance on Iman Shumpert's 'Iman Amongst Men' podcast on UNINTERRUPTED, DeRozan was asked about his experience in the Drew League.
He narrated his favorite story of how Bryant hit a game-winning shot after police officers tried to convince him to leave before the game was over:
"Favorite? Probably a Kobe moment," DeRozan said. "Probably, by far, my favorite because it was so unexpected. Nobody knew he was gonna come out and play. He go out there, have 45 and hit the game-winning shot."
He added:
"It was crazy even about that story. We was hooping, me, James (Harden) going off and Kobe back-and-forth. It was like three minutes left in the game, the police came to Kobe and was like, 'Let's get you out of here before the game is over.' He was like, 'I'm not going nowhere. I'm gonna finish the game.'"
It was during the 2011 NBA lockout, and Kobe Bryant made his Drew League debut that summer. Bryant joined other players in the tournament like DeMar DeRozan, James Harden, Paul George, Nick Young and Trevor Ariza.
The game was held at the Colonel Leon H. Washington Park in Los Angeles. Bryant and Harden went toe-to-toe during the game, with the then-OKC Thunder player outscoring the LA Lakers legend 47 to 44 points.
However, Bryant had the last laugh, as he hit the game-winning shot over Harden. The crowd erupted and went onto the court to hug him as security officers scrambled to try and prevent it but to no avail.
James Harden told the same Kobe Bryant story on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'
In an appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' in 2017, Harden told the same story about his Drew League experience with Kobe Bryant. Harden bragged about scoring more than Bryant but admitted that the LA Lakers legend was better, as he hit the game winner:
"It was the lockout, summertime," Harden said. "Washington Park, packed little small gym. Little kids play there. I got 50 points. I think he had like 40, but he hit the game winner."
