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LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant garnered a reputation as one of the most fearless, cold-blooded players in the NBA over his illustrious 20-year career. However, despite the aura surrounding Bryant, there was still a time that he let his nerves get to him during his sophomore year (1997-98 season).
Through fan voting, the "Black Mamba" was selected to his first All-Star Game, becoming the youngest All-Star starter in league history at just 19 years of age. Representing the Western Conference, Bryant was set to take on Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan from the Eastern Conference in a shooting guard battle.
According to his 1998 West All-Star teammate Kevin Garnett, that’s when the young Lakers star’s nerves started to set in.
During an appearance on the “Knuckleheads Podcast” last year, Garnett recounted how he pumped up Bryant after noticing that he was nervous before the 1998 All-Star Game.
“We get to the game and s**t and there’s MJ. And they were really hyping up Kob (versus) MJ, you know what I’m saying? And Kob was nervous,” Garnett said.
“It’s the first time I ever seen him nervous. And he was like, ‘Yo, we at the All-Star game,’ and I was like, ‘Look, n**ga, these old-a** n**gas, we going at these n**gas! F**k these n**gas!’
“He was talking about isos and all that, ‘Look, we get in here, I’m looking for you.’ … And then what I didn’t notice, they had that (camera) on us. What you don’t know about NBA entertainment, if you curse in anything, they not finna use it. But they caught the end of it when I dapped him.
“I hit his hands, two hands, like, ‘Yeah, n**ga, we finna get these n**gas! We at these n**gas!’ He said, ‘Woo!’”
Garnett then spoke about how Bryant wasted no time shaking off his nerves once the game started. The Lakers star threw down a monster dunk early in the game off a feed from Garnett, after which "KG" celebrated Bryant being able to finish the dunk.
“But the first or second play of the game, man, we were going up and I get it, I get on the left side, I take one dribble and I just threw it right in the middle,” Garnett said.
“What I didn’t know, I had split the difference of the free-throw line and the goal. And when I say this motherf**ker, he caught that motherf**ker with two hands, and for two seconds that n**ga sat right there (in the air). Then he dunked that motherf**ker. ‘Woo! Told you motherf**ker! Yeah! Yeah, n**ga! Yeah, way to catch that s**t Kob!’”
According to Garnett, Bryant then acted cool after completing the dunk, and from that point on, he was locked into the game.
“Yeah, and when I did that, Lord, he let it all out,” Garnett said.
“He was cool, came to the baseline, ‘Good looking. Hey, hey, yeah, let’s get it.’ He was in it.”
Kevin Garnett's story about Kobe Bryant's dunk at the 1998 NBA All-Star Game starts at the 1:20:57 mark below:
Also read: How Kobe Bryant once went on air with Stephen A. Smith to say he wanted "out" of the Lakers
Kevin Garnett says watching Kobe Bryant go head-to-head with Michael Jordan at the 1998 NBA All-Star Game was a magical moment
Later on while narrating the story about Kobe Bryant’s dunk at the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, Kevin Garnett touched on Michael Jordan’s reaction.
According to Garnett, Jordan was already fully locked into the game by that point. Garnett said this made Bryant's head-to-head battle against "MJ" one of the most memorable moments of his career.
“By then, Mike was already going. He had the sweat going, licking his fingers, blowing and s**t,” Garnett said.
“But it was classic. It was a perfect place to have that exchange, in a place like Madison Square Garden, in a city like New York, with those two titans right there. That was a magical night, yo.”
Michael Jordan went on to lead the East to a 135-114 blowout victory behind his game-high 23 points, six rebounds, eight assists and three steals on 55.6% shooting. The Chicago Bulls legend also took home the 1998 All-Star Game MVP trophy, marking the third and final All-Star Game MVP of his career.
Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant led the West with a team-high 18 points, six rebounds, one assist and two steals on 43.8% shooting.
Also read this: "I was just happy to be out there" - Klay Thompson was in awe playing against Kobe Bryant despite getting cooked for 40 points
