"Bean stance was too open and gave me a hook shot going middle" - Kevin Durant pays homage to Kobe Bryant on late legend's birthday

It was Kobe Bryant's 44th birthday yesterday and many NBA stars, including Kevin Durant, remembered the LA Lakers legend by sharing stories about him. Bryant didn't just impact NBA players but athletes across sports and countries. His 'Mamba mentality' and his relentless work ethic resonated with a lot of athletes around the world.

Kevin Durant reacted to an image of Kobe Bryant guarding him on Twitter, and he quote-tweeted it saying:

"This was a bucket, bean stance was too open and gave me a hook shot going middle. Miss you my boy!!! Lol"

He critiqued Black Mamba's defensive stance and added that the image shown resulted in a bucket. He added that he misses Bryant.

When a fan asked him how much Kobe dropped on his head in the game, he gave a funny reply:

"We not about to talk about that right now fam chill"

It's no surprise that Kevin Durant didn't want to dig into how much Kobe Bryant scored. Bryant has an overall record of 19-17 against KD and has averaged 25.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game in those games. His career-high against KD was 48 whereas the highest the Slim Reaper ever dropped on the Mamba was 42.

Durant averaged more points than Bryant in these games, but his Thunder team didn't win against the Lakers until their 11th matchup in 2010.

A month ago, Durant reacted to an "Overtime" post, a throwback to the 2012 London Olympics. It was back when KD and Bryant were teammates in the gold medal-winning US National Team. He quote-tweeted:

"Bean tryna get his stance right is too funny. I Miss my dog everyday"

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Kevin Durant defends his coach Steve Nash's 2006 MVP case against Kobe Bryant

Head Coach Steve Nash and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets

Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant are part of the illustrious 1996 NBA Draft class and their rivalry was one of the most entertaining aspects of the league in the 2000s. The Phoenix Suns and LA Lakers would clash in the playoffs repeatedly and it would be a brutal dogfight.

Nash winning the 2006 NBA MVP over Bryant has been one of the biggest hot topics of discussion in sports media, even today. He had significantly lower personal numbers but led his team to a 54-win season, whereas Bryant excelled individually, but his Lakers ended up as the sixth seed.

Kevin Durant engaged with a fan on Twitter back in 2019. He discussed how choosing either star for the MVP award would be a toss up and it would be hard to narrow it down. KD called his current coach Steve Nash "flawless" and a "perfect point guard" but also gave a shoutout to Kobe Bryant for winning the scoring title with 35 points a night. He tweeted:

"u can't go wrong with either one. Nash was flawless, feels like he didn’t miss shots or turn that thang over. Perfect PG shit. But bean did average 35 lol"