Kobe Bryant was adored and admired by many for his exceptional basketball skills and his reputation as an all-around nice guy. His fellow NBA players held him in high regard, particularly appreciating his outstanding work ethic. Widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Bryant achieved numerous accolades, including winning five NBA championships.
The 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), and a two-time NBA Finals MVP, was also multilingual and once playfully taunted a young and rising player in that player’s native language.
Kobe Bryant’s multilingual banter to Luka Doncic
Kobe Bryant once heckled Luka Doncic in Slovenian during an intense game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles lakers. Kobe along with his 13 year old daughter was sitting courtside and took Luka by surprise by talking to him in Slovenian. Luka turned around to see the person who was talking to him in his language and found that it was none other than the legend Kobe Bryant, “The Black Mamba”
Maybe growing up in Italy and spending a significant amount of time in Europe had allowed Kobe to learn the Slovenian language or perhaps it was his competitive nature that made him learn a few Slovenian slurs just to talk trash to Luka.
How many languages does Kobe know?
Bryant was fluent in English, Italian, and Spanish. He learned Italian when his family moved to Italy so that his father could play professional basketball. Bryant lived in Italy for 8 years and during this time he became fluent in Italian.
In addition to this he also picked up a little bit of Spanish. Bryant’s Spanish was further reinforced since his marriage to his wife Vanessa. Bryant also picked up some French and Serbian along the way from his teammates which helped him to cuss in both the languages.
Bryant said he learned these languages to let out his frustration at officials by cursing in another tongue other than English. In fact, many opponents over the years said Bryant managed to throw them off their game by cursing at them in their native tongue. Bryant’s ability to speak multiple languages was truly impressive.
What are your thoughts on Kobe being fluent in so many languages? Feel free to share with us in the comments below.
