Kobe Bryant has been playing for the Los Angeles Lakers since 1996. (Photo : Reuters)
NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, 36, has revealed who his two favorite teammates are and Shaquille O'Neal, 43, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 to 2004, is not one of them.
During a recent Kobe Academy Q&A, Bryant was asked who his favorite player that he enjoyed playing with was inall of his basketball career. He said there are two and while O'Neal is not one of them, he pointed out that he loved his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate.
"Me and Shaq won the thing but I didn't particularly like playing with him too much," Kobe Team quoted Bryant as saying. "It's easy. It's Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol."
Referring to each other as brothers, Bryant and Gasol were extremely close. In 2014, Gasol said it was very difficult to leave for the Chicago Bulls because of his relationship with Bryant.
On the other hand, Fisher is the only player who was with Bryant for all five of his championships. In the later years, the former was a co-captain and was one of the players the latter always trusted late in the game, according to Lakers Nation.
In the recent Kobe Academy Q&A, Bryant was also asked which NBA player inspired him. He replied that he honestly gets inspired by everybody and he does not say that lightly.
"There is plenty of players that you can learn from," Bryant explained and added that he watches and pays attention to everybody no matter how old or young the basketball player is. He also emphasized that he does not get inspired by particular players but he keeps trying to learn from them.
