Gilbert Arenas reveals how Kobe Bryant INTIMIDATED opponents through ‘Intelligent Trash talk’ making them question their mindset
Gilbert Arenas and the late Kobe Bryant have had numerous back-and-forths on the court.
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Kobe Bryant and Gilbert Arenas
Kobe Bryant was the hardest worker ever seen in the league’s history. He wasn’t just limited to his unreal work ethic and killer mentality, Black Mamba also clowned his rivals on the court with his great basketball IQ. Also, being one of the toughest or probably the toughest player out there for straight two decades. Bryant has many trash-talk stories and Gilbert Arenas has also been a victim of those. He once revealed how Black Mamba talked intelligent trash.
Agent Zero in an interview of his with Vlad TV, revealed how Kobe Bryant would throw his opponents off by talking some intelligent trash. He explained with an example while reflecting on the time when Mamba clowned one of his teammates. Arenas quoted: “So we were playing and it’s like a 2-on-1 break and Caron fouls, stops the break. So everybody is like, ‘Good job it stopped two points.’”
Further, adding how Kobe Bryant intelligently made them doubt the move and play. Gibby added: “Kobe walks over to him and says: ‘Hey who are you guarding?’ ‘You(Caron answers)’ ‘How many fouls you got?’ ‘One (Caron answers)’. ‘So you got only 5 left. Well, you need all six fouls to guard me and you wasted one on him stupid play’. You had to think about it like he’s right. And, that’s the stuff he says he makes you think about the things you did.”
Further, Gilbert Arenas also added how Kobe Bryant educated them with his intelligent trash talk. As Caron Butler could get in foul trouble later in the game and end up on the bench which will give him an opportunity to score some buckets. Kobe Bryant was really a different breed and had many such mind games up his sleeves to get the dub. He really hated losing.
Why did Kobe Bryant call Gilbert Arenas a One-Sided player?
In the same interview, Gilbert Arenas also revealed why Kobe Bryant called him a one-sided player. It’s not a term to disrespect Agent Zero. Instead, it’s a part of Black Mamba’s intelligent trash-talking which he used to bait his opponents. With Arenas, Bryant tried to bait him to guard him so that with the size advantage he can get some buckets. He even tried to provoke him during the game when his primary defender was getting a breather. And, the one-sided term comes in because Bean was guarding Arenas but it wasn’t the same the other way around.
Gibby revealing the story said: “You gotta remember with a chess player. They think about the whole game; they think about the moves. He has an advantage [over] me. So he’s realizing that I’m not giving him the advantage that he wants. Which is, I’m not going to guard you, so you can put me in the post; you have the height advantage, you have the strength, you have the moves. It puts the team at a disadvantage. So now he has to attack my intelligence to see if I’m gonna bite.”
Further, talking about being called one-sided player Arenas said: “Hey, you want to play one side of it? I’m guarding you. Come on and guard me.’ [I’m like,] ‘I’m not that dumb. You’re not gonna trick me to guard you and you get up six, seven, eight quick points because you’re not scoring right now. I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to get a little heater going. I’m not falling for that.’ But that was his thing. He’s gonna attack your intelligence.”
If we expect anyone to play such mind games it has to be Kobe Bryant. As he’s undoubtedly one of the most competitive players ever seen in the history of sports. Gilbert Arenas though didn’t fall for his attempts as he was able to read the bait. But it’s just hard to imagine how many players Kobe would have baited during his 20-year-long illustrious career.
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Ritik Malik
(1743 Articles Published)