Kobe gets gold slime shower at Nick's Kids Choice Sports Awards
On Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant received the Icon Award at the 2016 ESPYS, joining fellow just-retired all-time greats Peyton Manning and Abby Wambach in celebration of all they accomplished on and off the field during their respective careers. On Thursday, the longtime Los Angeles Lakers star received another such honor. This one had a bit less pomp and circumstance, and will require a bit more laundry detergent.
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The Mamba received the Legend Award at the 2016 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards on Thursday night, honoring his many achievements throughout a two-decade career in L.A. during which he won five NBA championships, two NBA Finals Most Valuable Player awards and one regular-season MVP trophy while making 18 All-Star teams and earning 15 All-NBA selections. After accepting his award and delivering a speech in which he challenged his young fans to hold tight to their dreams and believe in themselves, Bryant found himself awash in applause … and in something a bit grosser than applause.
Kobe was showered with gold slime at the kids choice sports awards lol. pic.twitter.com/ihAZfWIwMp
— NBA Inside Stuff (@NBAInside_Stuff) July 15, 2016
At first, Kobe was like:
And then, he was like:
Hey Kobe: tell me how my slime taste. No? Too soon? Is that not what we need right now?
Bryant joins past Legend Award honorees David Beckham and Derek Jeter on the receiving end of all that gold goo. Sorry, Carmelo Anthony — if you want to graduate from green slime to gold, you’ll need to step your game up, and maybe actually finish the world-record-for-high-fives job. (Maybe your new bros can help you; it is my understanding that they know a little something about the secret of the ooze.)
While I wouldn’t wish to be in Bryant’s spot on the stage when the slime cannons roared, I do congratulate him on this latest honor, and ask him a favor. Hey Kobe, now that you’ve got some pull over at Nickelodeon, any chance you can get the powers that be to read my “Salute Your Shorts” spec script? I know, it’s been off the air for almost 15 years, but I still think we never quite got THE Donkey Lips story, and I feel like it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. Have your people call my people, Mamba; I love storytelling, too. We can make some Sponge-and-Budnick magic here.
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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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