 The most insane Kobe Bryant story ever. Now let's be honest here, when talking about Kobe Bryant, the black member, you can make at least 50 videos talking about an insane Kobe Bryant moment. He was in the league for 20 years and had countless incredible stories each and every year. Now if you guys want to watch a video talking about 7 of his best stories, I'd advise you to go over to Michael Zemba's channel after this video and watch his. This story I'm about to tell you is one that Mike didn't put in his video and to be honest with you, in my opinion it's his craziest story, if not it's definitely top 5. Now this story not only shows how dedicated to the game Kobe truly was, but it shows how much Kobe Bryant practiced each day to even realize what was happening at the time. That probably doesn't make any sense, so let me explain. Here is the most insane Kobe Bryant story ever, I will also say this is from Gerald Henderson's article in the Players Tribune, which I'll leave a link to in the description box down below. The story starts in Charlotte 2009. At this point Kobe Bryant was at the peak of his palace and hitting clutch shot after clutch shot. It was the year he won his 4th NBA championship and was playing really well. It was during the regular season and Kobe was having his normal pre-game shoot around. I mean if you've ever seen Kobe before a game shooting, he rarely misses. To be fair, there's no defender at all which most NBA players are able to knock down these shots, but on this day Kobe couldn't hit one shot. I mean maybe he was just not feeling it this day, it happens. Players can sometimes just feel a little tired on back to backs, injuries can take over, but usually it's fatigue after a back to back game and things of that nature. Except this is Kobe Bryant we're talking about here. This isn't just a regular player. Kobe was missing wide open shots after wide open shots with no defenders around him. So obviously something seemed a little bit odd. Kobe Bryant missing wide open shots, no defenders around him, that seems really fishy. So Kobe Bryant proceeds to walk to the middle of the court, looks directly at the rim, turns around and says there's something wrong with the rim. Not his shot, the rim. He said that to Gerald Henderson, the first thing that Kobe Bryant ever said to him. In fact this was the first time they'd ever actually met, well kind of. At the time, like I said, Henderson was playing in Charlotte, but it was actually his rookie year in 2009 and the Lakers were visiting. Now Henderson had looked up to Kobe his entire childhood, just as Kobe Bryant had looked up to Jordan and how most players entering the NBA look up to LeBron James nowadays. I mean playing your idol or a play that you looked up to is a pretty big deal. And Gerald Henderson was a kid from Philly, who grew up close to Lower Merion. Obviously having that connection with Lower Merion and Kobe Bryant was quite strong as Kobe was not only a national legend, he was a hometown legend. He played high school there and that was a pretty big deal for Henderson growing up. He said that when he was 9 years old, his dad brought him to a high school game where Kobe Bryant dropped 50 points and sat for the 4th quarter. He also said he had visions of Kobe Bryant pulling up from one step inside the half court and draining it and then walking back on defense with a strut as if he knew just how good he was. He did. Lower Merion was a small gym, standing room only. Everyone was there to see him. So as you can imagine, Henderson was pretty pumped to be playing Kobe Bryant, the great, the legend, Kobe Black Momma Bryant and by 2009, Kobe and him were both NBA players. Anyway, back to the story. Henderson was already shooting around and there's still about 45 minutes until the tip up. And in Henderson's own words, he says, Kobe's on the other end, still shooting. And I'm glancing over at him. Remember, I'm a rookie. I want to see how this guy approaches warm-ups. He's one of the greatest of all time. Maybe I can learn something from him, still a move or two. I looked up and he had stopped shooting. Kobe was up to something, but it was weird. He was missing more shots than he was making. Honestly, he was missing a lot. All of a sudden, I look up to Kobe and he stopped shooting. He was holding the ball on his hip with one hand and motioning to the sideline with the other. Then all sorts of commotion started. A crew of maintenance guys showed up out of nowhere. It looked like a hockey line maintenance guys rushing on and off the court. Kobe was saying something to them and gesturing, but from where I was standing, I couldn't make out what they were saying. Suddenly there was a ladder being set up under the basket. Kobe is pointing up at the rim and the maintenance guys are positioning the ladder. A measuring tape is involved. I said, what's going on? Kobe was up to something. I'm standing at half court watching the scene play out and Kobe starts walking over to me. Something's wrong with the rim. Oh yeah? We're watching a guy climb up the ladder and tinker with the rim. It's too low. The rim's a quarter of an inch too low. Hold up, I need to interrupt here because do you know how little size that is? A quarter of an inch? Like what? That's crazy. Anyway, Henderson says, huh? What do you mean? I never really heard about maintenance issues with a rim before a game. Kobe goes, I was missing shots that I don't miss. I'm pretty sure it's low. A quarter of an inch. The fact that he didn't even measure, he just knew from the amount that he practiced. Most NBA players I guarantee you wouldn't even notice. They just shoot a little higher or lower, but not Kobe Bryant. He shot it exactly the same way each and every time. Anyway, Henderson goes on to say, that was it, our first conversation. He went back to his shooting routine, two things pop into my head. Number one, man I can't believe I just had a conversation with Kobe. And Kobe, maybe it's not the rim, maybe you're just missing shots. Kobe finished the game with 30 points. After the game, I was walking off and I saw one of the maintenance guys, one of the guys who was carrying the ladder onto the court during warm ups. I had to ask, hey man, what was up with the rim before? Oh, someone notified that it was a little lower than regulation he added. Don't worry, we adjusted it to 10 feet. Then he told me how much it was off by. I could tell you his answer, but I think you already know what he said. Now I don't know about you, but that story has got to be one of the most insane stories I've ever heard. Obviously it's Kobe Bryant and there are so many to choose from, but this one is definitely my favorite. And I hope you guys enjoyed this video. If you did, I'd really, really appreciate it. If you guys could go ahead, subscribe to the channel if you enjoy this video and you want to watch some more NBA content on the channel. And if you guys want to share this video around, definitely leave a like. That would be amazing. It would show your support so much and I'd really, really appreciate it. But there's a few things I want to say. The number one thing is just if you guys haven't followed my new Instagram account, we're doing an NBA 2K18 giveaway on there, so be sure to definitely follow that account. Links are in the description box down below. New merchandise is up on the store, so if you want to get some Nick Smith merch, definitely rep your boy. And I'll catch you guys in my next video. Thanks for watching. Peace.