Kobe Bryant once pushed back on a Marlon Wayans joke about Pau Gasol
The late great Kobe Bryant was known as a prime example of an athlete and a man who was totally dedicated to and obsessed with his craft. That dedication and obsessiveness resulted in him driving the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championships and becoming one of the greatest basketball players and overall athletes of all time.
Some used to complain that Bryant needed to lighten up a bit and smell the roses. But there was one occasion where he refused to do so because he preferred to have the back of one of his most important teammates.
Actor and comedian Marlon Wayans went on "The Big Podcast with Shaq" and recalled a time he was at a Lakers game and tried to make Bryant laugh. The Hall of Famer, however, lightly reprimanded him for the joke he cracked.
“I was at a Laker game… I was cracking jokes on Pau Gasol. I said he looked like an ostrich that got pushed into an oil spill… I was cracking all these jokes on him and Kobe just turned. He said, ‘Yo, chill. Yo man, that may be my next ring’. And I was like, ‘Alright, cool.' ... But Kobe was laughing.”
Bryant and Gasol certainly had quite the bond that made them brothers for life. Immediately after Gasol arrived in Los Angeles in February 2008, the team went to three straight NBA Finals and won it all in back-to-back seasons.
Bryant was virtually born again upon Gasol's arrival after three and a half years of living on the edge following Shaquille O'Neal's departure in 2004. Meanwhile, Gasol was grateful for Bryant because he, too, had dealt with mediocrity for years while with the Memphis Grizzlies and was sick of it.
It was a match made in heaven, even if some thought Gasol resembled a large flightless avian species.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Kobe Bryant once pushed back on a Marlon Wayans joke about Pau Gasol
