Kobe Bryant not only likes to talk trash to the player guarding him, but sometimes he likes to bring his own teammates into the fold—whether they like it or not. In an interview on the Basketball Insiders podcast, Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. was asked about the toughest players he's had to guard, which led to hilarious story about how Carmelo Anthony torched him in a game last season after Bryant taunted the New York Knicks star forward.
“Carmelo was quiet. I thought I was doing a really good job on him for like three quarters of the game," Nance Jr. said. "I think he had like six points in three quarters so I was kinda beating my chest like ‘Yea, I did this.’" Now, it should be noted that 'Melo actually had 14 points through three quarters. But still, holding the 15th best player in the NBA, according to SLAM, to 14 points is no small task.
"And then I think Kobe said something to him like, ‘You really gonna let the rook shut you down like that?' And yes, 24 fourth quarter points later, we lost, and Carmelo just lit me up," Nance said. "I mean step-back threes, he was all in his arsenal and there was nothing I could do about it.” Nance Jr. shouldn't be too hard himself because he gave up 12 points to Anthony in the fourth quarter. However, one look at the video below, and you can see that 'Melo did indeed light him up with a wide array of moves and shots.
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