Kobe Bryant‘s persona is consistently enhanced by the anecdotes from his off-court life. They highlight his amiable disposition and show off his softer side. When a seasoned Byron Scott took an adolescent Bryant on his first-ever beach excursion, these facets of his character became clear.
Byron Scott talked about this particular event from the 1996–1997 season on his Fast Break segment. After a team practice, he recalled accompanying Bryant, Derek Fisher, and Travis Knight—all rookies with the Los Angeles Lakers at the time—to the beach.
At first, the youthful group was overcome with excitement over their first trip to a beach in Los Angeles. After the first thrill subsided, they took a seat to talk about basketball. Fisher and Knight finally parted ways as time went on.
Before long, Bryant was by himself with Scott. The Black Mamba used this as an opportunity to get advice from the three-time champion regarding the NBA’s situation in the 1980s. He talked about how much he respected the time period and its rough play style. He also expressed remorse for never having been able to participate in such a highly competitive era.
Scott was sympathetic to Bryant at first, but he quickly turned the tone down to make it more lighthearted. He made light of the fact that the Philadelphia native was spared from playing in the 1980s. Scott speculated that Bryant might not have started in the starting lineup because of his arrival back then.
The sixty-three-year-old thought back on this exchange, remembering: “He [Kobe Bryant] just started talking about the ’80s. ‘Man, B, I wish I had played with you guys back in the ’80s, ’cause I just love the way you guys play, the physicalness of the game’… and we just went on and on… And I was like, ‘Yeah, you would have been great in the ’80s’… I said, ‘Wait, hold on. I’m glad you didn’t play in the ’80s’. He said, ‘Why?’. ‘Cause my a** would be sitting on the bench.’”
