“My arms fu****g did it by themselves”: Matt Barnes on the infamous ball fake to Kobe Bryant


“My arms fu****g did it by themselves”: Matt Barnes on the infamous ball fake to Kobe Bryant

Matt Barnes shares his story of how he tried to fake Kobe Bryant in the court, and he didn’t even flinch at his effort. After which he joined the Lakers when Kobe Bryant called him up to ask if he would like to play for the Lakers in 2010, to which Matt Barnes accepted the invitation.

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Matt Barnes on “the Old Man & The Three” podcast

Matt Barnes on “The Old man & The Three”

Matt Barnes was one of the few people Kobe Bryant managed to get under the skin. Matt Barnes in a recent event with JJ Redick Podcast, “The Old Man & The Three”, spoke about the game where he tried faking Kobe Bryant, way before he accepted his invitation to play for the Lakers. In the Podcast, Redick raised the infamous question of the ball fake on Kobe when the Orlando Magic faced the Los Angeles Lakers back in the day.

The Orlando Magic had lost to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals in the previous season, where Matt Barnes was not part of the loss of the Magic, Redick went on to ask about the attempted fake,  to which Barnes said, “Oh yea, 100%, I just don’t know where it came from, like, it wasn’t like I was thinking about doing it, like, my arms fucking did it by themselves. I promise you.” Redick highlighted the fact that Matt Barnes and Kobe Bryant were having a great tussle throughout the game, and Matt Barnes had attempted to fake the ball on Kobe’s face was already building up. Kobe Bryant didn’t even flinch at Barnes’ effort which goes on to show the ice Kobe had in his veins.

Kobe Bryant Versus Matt Barnes

Kobe Bryant and Matt Barnes

That game which saw the infamous ball on Kobe Bryant, went down as a win for the Orlando Magic, with a score of 96-94. Barnes’ efforts on the defensive end were the focal point which was the primary reason the Magic emerged out as winners. Matt Barnes was the one marking Kobe Bryant that night which saw the Mamba score only 34 points, after shooting 40% from the field. Bryant however had scored 18 points out of the 34-points in the fourth quarter where the Mamba got 18 points after his 16 shots attempt. It was not an outing Kobe would have expected out of himself.

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The fake ball throw came in the third quarter, which looked evident that Kobe Bryant was already under Matt Barnes’ skin, which led to the fake ball throw attempt, it was after this point that Kobe was able to achieve an 18-point quarter. Kobe has been famous for his locked-in mentality, where he doesn’t let anything besides the game affect his performance and uses his ability to get his opponent’s skin for them to impact their performance and he takes the benefit of it. The rivalry between Matt Barnes and Kobe Bryant was not a long one, Kobe Bryant had contacted Matt Barnes personally for him to join the Los Angeles Lakers and become a part of a franchise in which his idol played, Magic Johnson. Matt Barnes teamed up with Kobe Bryant in 2010.

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