Lakers News: Former Laker Josh Powell Shares Hilarious Kobe Bryant Story

Josh Powell was a Laker from 2008-2011

Kobe Bryant stories never get old, especially for Laker fans. The late Laker legend will forever be a king of LA, and rightfully so.

Josh Powell was a Laker from 2008-2011, which was a really great time to be a Laker. He won two Championships with LA, and played really great minutes off the bench for the Lakers. Recently, Powell spoke with Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson from Bally sports. He spoke about Bryant.

Man! I have so many good stories. Funny?... he was such a serious guy [laughs]... He definitely was a jokester. I just know with his competitive nature — I remember when he did that photo shoot because he had the cover for GQ I think it was during that time with the hat and the different outfits and man, we were — I know I was giving him a hard time coming into practice one day and I had all the pictures blown up big of him in all of those outfits and he couldn’t say nothing but he was just like, “I bet you can’t beat me muthafucka!” [laughs]... and he was just like, “Wanna bet?” and he put up some ridiculous number on it but that’s just the type of guy he was. Even if you felt like that you got the best of him, he’ll find a way to dig a little deeper," 

For reference, this is the photo shoot Powell referenced. 

Kobe Bryant's GQ cover was enlarged and put in Lakers locker room by ex-Laker Josh Powell.

A pissed Mamba tells Powell: “I bet you can’t beat me mothafucka!”

Powell said he could & Bryant replies: 'Wanna bet?' pic.twitter.com/NkZd6yxnA7

— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) October 4, 2021

Admittedly, perhaps this photo did not age well. All in the eyes of the beholder, but the image of Powell having the guts to hang that photo in the locker room to troll the ever-frightening Kobe Bryant is amazing. 

NBA fans know that 1-on-1, nobody was beating Bryant at this time. He was at the top of his game and in a 1-on-1 game, he was purely unstoppable. Powell's gall in this story is amazing. 

These stories of Bryant of course call to memory the same intensity of Michael Jordan, whom Bryant often emulated. The stories about the intensity of Bryant could fill a novel.

Perhaps one day, they will.