Ex-Laker Recalls How Kobe Attempted To Make 'History' With One Shot

A former Los Angeles Lakers star is still thrilled with how Kobe Bryant showed him how to win.

Apart from being one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Bryant was known for his cold-blooded game-winning shots.

During his prime years, the late Lakers legend would to close out crucial games that it became a no-brainer the ball would be in his hands in the final seconds.

However, there was one particular game Caron Butler will never forget.

Appearing in a recent episode of “The Long Shot Podcast,” Butler vividly recounted the moment Bryant called off then-Lakers coach Rudy Tomjanovich’s play and told his teammates to just give him the ball.

“We was in the huddle, the game was tied and there was only like three seconds, four seconds on the shot clock,” Butler recalled. “Rudy T [ Tomjanovich] is like drawing up all type of s--- on the board and he swiped it off again. Kobe said, ‘f--- that, just give me the ball right here’.”

“He was like, ‘Whoever wants to take the ball out will be part of history’,” he continued. “Lamar [Odom] was like, ‘I want to be a part of history.’ I looked at Kobe, he just like winked his eye in the moment like, ‘Yo, whoever want to be a part of history just throw the ball, this s--- is over’.”

Instead of Lamar Odom, it was Luke Walton who inbounded the ball. To everyone’s surprise, Bryant delivered and put the Lakers up by one with a long two-pointer.

Over time, some tagged Bryant as a “ball hog” for always wanting to take shots, particularly the game-winning ones.

To his defense, the “Black Mamba” implied that the reason why seldom passed the ball was because being the hardest working player on the team made him worthy of taking matters into his own hands.

“[Bryant] said, ‘Phil, man, some of my teammates don’t understand the work,'” famed Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy said on “All The Smoke” in June. “He said, ‘I see dudes walk into practice 10 minutes before practice, and they leave right after. Why the f— am I gonna pass them the basketball?'”

“'I don’t respect their work ethic. I’m in here busting my a– every day trying to perfect my craft, and these dudes don’t wanna work on their games. I don’t trust them. So I’m not gonna pass them the basketball.'”