You know what I’ve just realised? Remember when Mario Chalmers was the guy that always got shouted at when he was at the Heat? Like the little brother of the team?
Is it worth considering that Tyronn Lue was that guy when he was at the Lakers? I don’t know because I haven’t researched enough on that era of Lakers, but from this story recently told on the Akron Beacon Journal, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lue was that dude.
The Lakers’ reserve unit was scrimmaging the starters when Bryant drove baseline for the game-winning basket. Lue moved over from the elbow and blocked Bryant against the backboard despite giving up at least six inches in the clash. The reserves won on the next possession when Devean George made a layup and Brian Shaw started taunting Bryant over Lue’s block.
“Kobe wanted to fight me at first,” Lue recalled. “Second, he wanted to play one-on-one after practice. … He was so mad. After that, every day we stepped onto the court, he just went after me every single day.”
Lue has the unique perspective of having played with a young Kobe, an old Michael Jordan and now he’s coaching LeBron James. Lue believes Bryant and Jordan were identical in their approach and their competitive nature even at practice. […] “LeBron’s the same way, it’s just they’re more vocal about it,” Lue said. “They’re more demonstrative about it. They’ll get on guys. They’ll cuss guys out. They’ll even fight guys if they have to, so that’s just the difference, but they still all have the same will to win and be able to take control of a game like that.”
I love how it was Brian Shaw yacking in Kobe’s face and then he went to Lue with Shaw laughing in the background. This is schoolyard and I love it. Very throwback.
