Did One of Kobe Bryant's Most Famous Moments Just Get Ruined by a New Camera Angle?
With the 2018 NBA season almost upon us, an 8-year-old play involving two retired players erupted on Twitter this week. Makes sense, right?
The incident in question occurred between the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and the Orlando Magic’s Matt Barnes in a game March 7, 2010.
Barnes was inbounding the ball under the hoop when he faked as if he was throwing the ball at Bryant’s face. It was the classic “psych” move, but Kobe didn’t flinch.
The fact that Bryant didn’t flinch became somewhat of an iconic moment for the Black Mamba over the years, burnishing his reputation as a stone cold assassin on the court with steely resolve and focus.
Now the moment is being revisited with a “new angle” from above that some say shows Kobe actually flinching.
Everything we know about the Kobe flinch GIF is a lie 😱
(via @TribStarAusten)https://t.co/1R71OZEy4a
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) October 2, 2018
But if you look closely, it appears Bryant is swaying side-to-side, not flinching, when Barnes fakes the pass at his face.
The “Kobe flinched” overhead angle got so much play on Tuesday that it reached the Mamba himself, who responded to NBA reporter Chris Palmer.
Just talked to Kobe a couple minutes ago about this. He hadn't heard about it yet. He wasn't worried. At all. "You gotta remember I was swaying. He did it and I didn't balk." https://t.co/8nR2wHNIX4
— Chris Palmer (@ChrisPalmerNBA) October 2, 2018
“You gotta remember I was swaying. He did it and I didn’t balk,” Bryant told Palmer.
It’s hard to argue with him.
.@kobebryant has a message for all of the doubters. (via @ChrisPalmerNBA) pic.twitter.com/WO37EAJrxC
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 2, 2018
Back in 2015, Bryant told the Los Angeles Daily News that he knew Barnes wasn’t going to throw the ball at him.
“He’s crazy, but he’s not that crazy,” he said. “So I didn’t bother flinching.”
“It was a split second and I processed it pretty quickly,” Bryant said. “I realized he wasn’t going to do it. We laughed and joked about it a lot when he played together.”
Barnes discussed the play in August on ESPN’s “The Jump,” saying the fake pass was precipitated by “Kobe stuff, you know, elbowing, talking trash, hitting me a couple of times.”
“When I did the pass, if you look at me, I’m looking at the play developing, I’m not looking at him,” Barnes said. “And then I realized how close it got and that he didn’t flinch after the fact.”
Can we just bring on the 2018 season already?
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