Giannis Antetokounmpo Says He Doesn't Like Kobe Bryant Comparisons

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Milwaukee Bucks v Brooklyn Nets - Game Seven
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 19: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks celebrates the win of game seven of the Eastern Conference second round at Barclays Center on June 19, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets 115-111 in overtime to win the series. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Giannis Antetokounmpo says that he "will never disrespect" Kobe Bryant and doesn't like being compared to the late Lakers legend.

Giannis Antetokounmpo says that he doesn't like to be compared to the great, Kobe Bryant, telling The Athletic's Eric Nehm that he "will never disrespect" the late Lakers legend.

“I will never say this, I will never disrespect the name of the great Kobe. I don’t like mentioning him,” Antetokounmpo told the outlet. “I feel like he should be mentioned, should never be forgotten. But I don’t like mentioning his name to bring attention to the conversation that we are about to have. I wasn’t close to him. I wasn’t this with him or that with him. But I would say this, in some areas of his mindset, I think we’re very similar.”

(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

From there, Antetokounmpo made reference to Bryant’s famous “Mamba Mentality,” explaining just how passionate Bryant was about the game of basketball. While the two were friendly on the sidelines, Bryant made it clear they were opponents on the court.

“I might not be as talented as him, but when we’re talking about a guy that worked extremely hard from his first day until he retired. A guy that plays to win, a guy that pushes himself to the limit, a guy that has a killer mentality when he steps on the court,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s almost like having — I think he had two personalities. Like when we were on the sideline and we were talking and I was taking notes, laughing smiling, joking around, talking. But when we stepped on the court, It was like motherf—er didn’t even know me. ‘I thought you were like my friend.’”

Antetokounmpo and the Bucks began their regular season against the 76ers, earlier this week, winning the matchup 90-88. They will take on the Rockets, Saturday night.

[Via]

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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