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Kobe Bryant Once Smelled Hangover on Luke Walton at Practice, and Went for the Jugular

Here's a hot tip: don't invite Kobe to your bachelor party.
Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Kobe Bryant sees you taking your Emergen-C's. He sees you popping Advil like Skittles, eating your bacon and mayonnaise sandwich disgustingly, with the smell of cheap cologne still clinging to your undershirt. He knows you're hungover, and unlike your boss, he's not going to let you nod off in the broom closet. He's gonna rip you apart.

Such was the way with Luke Walton, who recalled showing up to a Lakers practice his rookie year stinking of the drink on UNINTERRUPTED's "Open Run" podcast earlier this week (as transcribed by Silver Screen and Roll):

"I probably had too much to drink the night before," Walton recalled. "So I came in, I was a rookie, I felt good, and they could smell some alcohol on me, and Kobe informed the rest of the team that nobody was allowed to help me on defense, and that I had to guard him the entire practice.

"And I was laughing at first, like 'oh, this is funny,' Walton continued. "But in Kobe's mind, in his eyes, he was like 'no, i see and smell weakness, I'm going to destroy you today.' He taught me a lesson (laughing), he taught me a lesson. He probably scored 70-something in practice that day, and I'm begging for help, but none of my teammates would help. His killer instinct, and his work ethic will stick with me forever."

Here's a hot tip: don't invite Kobe to your bachelor party.