Watch: "This dude was cool as f**k" - Chandler Parsons recalls a crazy Kobe Bryant story, mentions how Mamba took care of a $22k bill for him
Kobe Bryant and his legend continue to live on in the minds of NBA fans across the globe.
However, sometimes we hear a story of somebody's experience with Bryant that makes us question everything we thought we knew about one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
In a recent episode of All The Smoke, former Dallas Mavericks wing Chandler Parsons revealed an amazing story about his first encounter with Bryant. Parsons described Bryant's manner as totally unexpected.
.@ChandlerParsons Kobe Bryant story is unreal 😂
(via @shobasketball)
https://t.co/kGgKdL7Bb8
The story was about how Bryant arranged and then funded a night out for Parsons when he was still a rookie in the NBA. Of course, the experience came about after Bryant had just dropped forty-plus points on Parsons' head, but what else is new?
"Supper club was the club where the tables were beds. It was awesome, it was nuts. 2am rolls round, granted I’m with guys who make hundreds of millions of dollars. And this waitress beelines for me, at this point my dad’s my financial advisor, he’d get on my a** if I value size my meal at chic-fil-a. Anyway, she’s brining me this bill, I open it, and it’s 22 thousand dollars, at this point I’m sick. This chick looks at me, hands me a pen, and is like ‘sign for Mr. Bryant.’ I’m like ‘what?’ I signed Kobe Bryant on a 22-thousand-dollar club bill."
Kobe was a competitor
Usually, when we hear stories about Bryant, it's centered around his competitive spirit, or how he would talk smack to guys before proceeding to annihilate them on the court.
We've seen the highlights, heard the comments, and seen the interviews. Outside of Michael Jordan, nobody took winning as seriously as Bryant did. It consumed him, and that's what made him so exceptionally likable.
Instead of being controlled by emotion, nervousness and fear:
“Things come and go, emotions come and go. The important thing is to accept them all.” - Kobe Bryant https://t.co/SQKBPM5mfR
"To sum up what mamba mentality is, it means to be able to constantly try to be the best version of yourself. That is what the mentality is. It's a constant quest to try to better today than you were yesterday," Kobe Bryant once explained during a 2016 tour.
It was that fierce will to win that saw Bryant transcend basketball and inspire people from all walks of life to follow their dreams.
Of course, it also helped Bryant become a five-time NBA champion and a two-time NBA Finals MVP. So, it's fair to say Bryant certainly practiced what he preached.
Luckily for Parsons, he has an amazing memory of who Kobe Bryant was as a person, rather than who he was as a player. It's often easier to assume Bryant was the same person off the court as he was on it, such is the power of his legacy.
But, if you listen to enough stories, Parsons' tale is just another piece to the jigsaw puzzle that depicts a kind guy who respected hard work and hustle. That is what the Mamba Mentality has always been about.