Horace Grant's favorite Kobe Bryant memory is vintage Black Mamba

Share

Even early in Kobe Bryant's career, Horace Grant knew not to poke the bear.

Grant, who was introduced Wednesday as a special advisor to Bulls COO Michael Reinsdorf, visited CSN Chicago's downtown studio and discussed a number of league-wide topics.

Among them, his most memorable encounter with Kobe Bryant. Grant recalled a game in Los Angeles late in his lone season with the Seattle SuperSonics against the Lakers.

Bryant, just 21 at the time, had a quiet first half, scoring just eight points while being guarded by Sonics forward Ruben Patterson. The Sonics held a surprising 40-39 lead over the league-best Lakers. And that's where everything went wrong.

[MORE BULLS: Horace Grant says any of six Bulls championship teams would have swept 2016 Warriors]

"We had a guy on our team named Ruben Patterson, and he had held Kobe down. And then he walks off the court at halftime, doing the crowd like this, and I was like, 'Put your hand down!'

"And he came back (after halftime) and Kobe just lit him up."

Bryant finished with 33 points. The Lakers won in overtime. Patterson managed to finish with 21 points and learned an important lesson in the process.

[SHOP BULLS: Get your Bulls gear right here]

The Lakers won the title that year, led by Grant's old coach Phil Jackson. It was the first of five titles for Bryant. Seattle lost in the first round of the playoffs that year. But Patterson will always have that one half against the Black Mamba.

See what else Grant had to say, including what his role with the Bulls will be, in the video above.

Contact Us