Kobe Bryant, in his 20-year Lakers career, encountered a lot of players from different backgrounds and ethnicity. After moving to Italy at the age of 6, Bryant’s mastery of Italian is obvious. The five-time NBA Champion was also versed in Spanish and later his adequacy in French was also revealed.
In an on-court incident with another NBA icon, Tony Parker, Kobe’s multilingualism was on full display. Known for his trash-talking, Kobe made sure to leave a lasting mark on Tony P’s mind.
Kobe Bryant learned French to throw Tony Parker off his game
Kobe Bryant learnt different languages not to expand his knowledge but to tease his opponents. In Tony Parker’s documentary, it was revealed that the 5-time NBA Champion learned French only to mess with the former Spurs star.
Kobe was taught by his teammate Ronny Turiaf before the Lakers-Spurs match in the 2008 Western Conference Finals. Kobe mentioned in the documentary, “I played with Ronny Turiaf and him and Ronny went to school together. And so…I would ask Ronny. ‘You gotta teach me some things in French. You got to give me something so that I can just kinda mess with Tony.’ If I could say something in French, throw him off a little bit.”
His on-court rival Parker said that he did not get distracted with the Black Mamba’s trash talks but it did seem amusing to him. In response to the mentioned incident the point guard said, “I would look at him and give him no reaction. But in my head, I found it hilarious that he had taken the time to learn our language to try and knock me off my game. That was quite something.”
The game ended with the Lakers winning the Western Conference Finals where Kobe contributed a remarkable performance along with his trash talk, the content of which was never revealed by Tony Parker.
Bryant surprised Luca Doncic by heckling him in Slovenian
A similar incident happened with Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, but this time Kobe was not on the court. In a game between the Lakers and the Mavericks on December 19, 2019, Doncic was heckled in his native language. Hearing the constant taunt, he turned back and to his surprise, it came from none other than the retired Kobe Bryant. On seeing the legend, Doncic smiled and shook hands with him.
After the match, the Mavs star did not reveal the inappropriate language that Kobe used. Doncic said, “He was talking Slovenian.” He continued, “So, I was like, ‘Who’s talking in my language?’ And I saw Kobe, and I was really surprised.” Like many others, the Lakers legend was Doncic’s idol too.
Kobe’s learning of French and Slovenian shows the extent he can go for the sport to tease and distract the opponent, playing with their minds to win the match.
