One of the most formidable rivals in history was Kobe Bryant. There weren’t many defenders who could claim to have shut him down every single night, but one player in particular was able to slow him down a bit. The former Suns guard Raja Bell explained how Kobe’s style of play made him so difficult to contain.
Throughout their careers, Kobe and Raja had a lot of intense confrontations. Raja became a member of the “Hoops Threads Podcast” and emphasized the occasion that changed Bryant’s perspective on the game. Raja stated:
“They were both killers. Mamba mentality all the way. 8 was doing it more physically. Quicker than you. Stronger than you. Jump higher than you. He knew what he was doing but he wasn’t a master at his craft yet. 24 became a student. A maniacal obsessive learner of what you did,”
Throughout his two distinct career phases, Raja faced Kobe. When the Sixers faced the Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals, Bell was a player on the team. Since Raja joined the Suns, their rivalry has been centered around each other. Not long after, during the 2006–07 season, Kobe switched to the number 24. Bell said that Bryant was a different player after switching jerseys.
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Bell had a reputation for challenging Kobe to a fight whenever they met. But during a game, Raja realized he was playing against a different opponent after they had a conversation. Raja expressed: “Kobe turned around on me in an early game, I forget which season it was and I got that. He went to that fade over the right shoulder and I swiped that thing away. He said to me, ‘I forgot that your hands are there when I get that shot.’ He had watched the film and he knew better than that. That gave you a little bit of insight of who he was as two-four,”
Kobe studied the game his entire life. Even though Raja isn’t well-known to the average fan, Bryant still respects him as a defender and has studied all of his patterns to overcome his persistence.
