Kevon Looney Discusses Kobe Bryant’s Influence On Him

There are many players in the NBA today who grew up watching, idolizing and emulating Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant. His impact on the game stretches around the world and one person who is among the many who wanted to be him is new Lakers signing Kevon Looney.

Looney grew up in Wisconsin, but that did not stop him from loving Bryant growing up. In fact, the new Lakers big man said that Bryant influenced him to love the game of basketball as he would watch him on TV and then go out in the backyard to practice afterwards.

“Some of my earliest memories of watching basketball was watching the Finals, Lakers vs. Philly,” Looney said in a Getting to Know segment on Lakers YouTube. “Watching Kobe play then going in the back yard and emulating Kobe and trying everything that he used to do on the court. He was my favorite player. He’s still my favorite player so he kinda influenced me to love the game of basketball

It might seem surprising to many that Looney was emulating Bryant as a young player as he is now known as a physical big man who thrives on the offensive glass. But as one of the top prospects in high school, Looney was actually a do-it-all forward and it was wanting to be like Bryant that pushed him to develop his skills across the board.

“Like I said, Kobe was my guy and he was somebody that competed on both ends,” Looney added. “I wanted to be him and so I played a little bit of everything. I brought the ball up the court, I could post up, block shots. Whatever I needed to do to win that’s what I would do and it got me to the NBA.”

Looney did play in college at UCLA so he was in Southern California as Bryant’s career winded down and his first NBA season was the Lakers legend’s last. Looney undoubtedly embraced that Bryant mindset of doing anything needed in order to win as was seen during his championship runs with the Golden State Warriors and now hopes to bring that same mentality with the purple and gold.

Matt Barnes says Kobe Bryant was best guest on ‘All the Smoke’ podcast

Bryant remains one of the most beloved players in NBA history and in his post-playing career had begun to break down that stigma of being the Black Mamba and always being in serious mode. The last interview he gave before his untimely passing was with the “All the Smoke” podcast and host Matt Barnes says he was the best guest in the history of the show.