Samaki Walker says Kobe Bryant once sucker-punched him over $100
Former NBA big man Samaki Walker has been in the news quite a bit over the past month, speaking at length and with multiple outlets about his experiences playing professional ball in Syria after his NBA days ended, amid ongoing civil war in the nation and roiling controversy over the treatment of refugees fleeing the war-torn nation. When he joined “Brown and Scoop” on CBS’ Play.It podcast network this week, though, the primary topic of conversation had less to do with his time overseas and more to with his days as a member of the championship-winning 2000s Los Angeles Lakers — and, more specifically, that time in 2002 when he found himself in an altercation with teammate and soon-to-retire star Kobe Bryant.
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The Kobe chat starts at about the five-minute mark, with Walker diving into the story in earnest a couple of minutes later:
At the time, both Bryant and Phil Jackson sloughed off the skirmish, with the head coach terming it “kid’s play […] juvenile stuff” and Kobe calling the incident “not a season-turner.” As Walker — whom the Dallas Mavericks chose with the No. 9 pick in the 1996 NBA draft, four spots ahead of Bryant, and who joined the Lakers in free agency in July 2001 — tells it, the incident was a bit more heated and a lot more ludicrous than those initial reports indicated.
“Real talk: it was a situation, it was probably one of the craziest, most immature situations,” Walker said.
As the story goes, the Lakers would play a post-practice half-court shooting game, with each player throwing in $100 and the first one to sink a 47-footer taking down the pot. In this instance, Kobe won the contest, and while Walker thought he had two days to hand over the face card, per the competition’s custom, Kobe apparently did not think that.
It wasn’t even 48 hours. Kobe comes to me on the bus, asking me where his $100 is, believe it or not. Out of all the people, he chose me, which is still, to this day, puzzling.
I told him, “Man, I don’t have no $100 on me right now. First of all, why are you coming at me for $100?” With that being said, I put my earphones back on, and once I put my earphones back on, the most amazing thing happened. Kobe, he sucker punched me.
First of all, I’m totally shocked that this man chose me to put his hands on [me], and I’m still not understanding why. Is this really over $100? It couldn’t have been. With that being said, the street came out in me and I told Phil to stop the bus. Phil stands up, looks crazy like ‘What the hell is going on?'”
Walker says that he wanted to continue the fight off the team bus, but that things didn’t escalate. Shaquille O’Neal’s bodyguard Jerome — you have to love a No. 2 named Jerome — reportedly calmed things down, Kobe apologized, and the two remained friends, with Walker continuing to respect Bryant’s drive and determination throughout his Hall of Fame career.
“I appreciate a guy who has the mentality of a Kobe Bryant,” Walker said. “I learned a lot watching him, and for that, I’m thankful.”
Those teachings, apparently, included not looking away to put your headphones back in when someone’s in your face and always keeping a Benjamin in your wallet.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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