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Among NBA fans, Kobe Bryant sits near the top of the pantheon. While the late Lakers legend is usually ranked behind Michael Jordan, he somewhat serves as his generation’s equivalent of MJ. If you grew up a little after His Airness’ prime, Kobe was probably your hero.

Glen Davis is a little older than that, but he still came away from the court with some memories of Bryant. In fact, the Lakers star blew Big Baby away by simply knowing his name. He then followed that up with a bit of his signature Mamba Mentality, albeit in Spanish.

Glen Davis was blown away that Kobe Bryant knew his name

Kobe Bryant (L) and Glen 'Big Baby' Davis (R) battle during the 2010 NBA Finals.
Kobe Bryant and Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis battle during the 2010 NBA Finals. | Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

During his time at LSU and in the NBA, Big Baby Davis crossed paths with some iconic basketball players. Kobe Bryant, however, managed to stand out from the crowd.

“First of all, I was geeked out that he even know my name,” Davis explained on a recent episode of the All the Smoke podcast. “When he said, ‘What’s up, Big Baby?’ I f***ing damn near fainted. I was [like,] ‘God damn, Kobe know me.’ You know what I mean? … I didn’t even knew [sic] he knew my name.”

Bryant wasn’t done there, though. Once the game began, he talked a bit of strategy with Pau Gasol in Spanish. Davis, again, was impressed.

“Playing against him was great, man, cause he’s just a competitor. You know what I mean,” Big Baby continued. “I think the most special part about it him was when I heard him, I was guarding Pau Gasol, like I couldn’t translate the Spanish. … I’m like, ‘Bro, you really speaking that s***? That’s unfair.’ You know what I mean? I’m like, ‘Pau, what he say?”

Those two experiences left the big man with an unshakeable impression of Kobe.

“He was a special player,” Davis concluded. “He was a super, super special player. I’m just, you know, glad to play against him.”

At the risk of painting with a broad brush, no one would disagree with that.

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Joe Kozlowski

Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he’s a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie.

Growing up loving Shaquille O’Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he’s continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives.

As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He’s barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe’s big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level.

Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.