One thing you can never say about Kobe Bryant is that he’s inconsistent with whom he chooses to praise. Work your tail off regularly and you earn Kobe’s admiration publicly.
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Thursday, Brian Phillips of Grantland.com published an article on Tony Allen’s impact on these playoffs, and Bryant wanted to spread the word.
#Respect https://t.co/x4x858CE7T
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) May 8, 2015
Privately, and, occasionally, publicly, some teammates and opponents have drawn Kobe’s ire for not living up to his expectations of insane work ethic and otherworldly toughness (I’m not saying any names, Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal). The one thing that appears to annoy Bryant the most is a player who has talent, but does not work to squeeze every drop of production from said talent.
Teammates like Sasha Vujacic and Trevor Ariza may not have necessarily been blessed with a prodigious combination of athletic ability and skill, but they worked, and were able to play vital roles on championship teams. They seem to epitomize what Kobe hopes for in a teammate.
Opponents like Russell Westbrook and, in this case, Tony Allen who compete so tenaciously that you at times worry for their safety on the court tend to catch Kobe’s eye. Bryant has even gone so far as to call Allen the toughest player he’s ever had to score against.
When you consider all the elite defenders who’ve matched up with Bryant; that’s incredibly high praise.
Poor Ruben Patterson has to sit there and watch as Tony Allen – whose nickname “The Grindfather” is way cooler, by the way – gets all the respect the self-proclaimed “Kobe Stopper” ever wanted.