Master P almost had a brawl with Kobe Bryant, according to a tale from Lamar Odom.
Kobe Bryant is still being remembered a year after his death. The self-proclaimed Mamba player is known for his drive and competitive spirit and will go down in history as one of basketball’s greatest. He was also competitive and demanded respect on his own turf, especially from those who stepped foot on his training grounds.
One of those moments was recalled by Laker player Lamar Odom who says that Master P once showed up at a Laker’s practice session, and immediately, he and Bryant clashed- almost coming to blows with Master P.
In an interview with Vlad TV, Odom said the men’s headstrong personalities clashed immediately. “The aura, the energy or the timing of it, [Kobe] wasn’t really kinda feeling it,” he began. “You gotta understand, these are two alpha males and their own, in what they do. [it was] Awkward. You feel me? So I’m from the street so I can peep it.”
Odom said he stepped between both men to quell a possible physical altercation. “So, I’m tryin’ to just dead it, but it was awkward. It wasn’t like, getting in the middle, but I’m just gonna check both of they temperatures and make sure they cool. I’m gonna use my Jamaica, Queens instinct. The energy was just off between them.”
While Odom couldn’t recall the exact dates, it was around the 2004-2005 season in which the Lakers disappointingly missed the playoffs. Odom and Bryant were teammates from 2004-2011.
Kobe Bryant a Phony
It seems that Master P wasn’t fond of Kobe, having himself had a pair of training camp stints in the 1990s, and he’s been very critical of Kobe even after that incident.
In 2015, he called out Kobe for being “phony” when he reached out after Odom was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel.
“I’m talking about Kobe,” he said. “All this man wanted to do was play basketball. Kobe was his friend and he like owned the team. He could’ve got [Lamar] back on the team. Even in that situation, I think [Lamar] was just searching for love. His biggest problem was where the people were at that he showed love to. It’s phony,” Master P had then said.
