Kobe Bryant Refused to Share His Barber’s Details With Clippers Rival Until a Chance Church Visit

Kobe Bryant wanted to win on the court, so he would famously put in more hours than anybody else. Off the court, he was just as competitive, diversifying his talents to write books, embrace fashion, appear on late-night television, win an Academy award and, consequently, become a pop culture icon. And, as a testament to his competitive spirit, he wasn’t giving away those contacts easily either.

Case in point, when his friend Corey Maggette asked him for his barber’s number so he could get that immaculate fade, Kobe shut him down quick.

Maggete recently appeared on the Basement Talk podcast where he explained just how secretive Bryant was. “He was a vault, man. He didn’t give out any information,” Maggette said.

“I’ll never forget, man. This is when I had a lot of hair on my head. I am like, ‘Who’s this dude’s barber, man, right?’ So I asked Rob [Pelinka]. I am like, ‘Rob, can you ask Kobe if I can get the guy who cuts his hair, his barber’s number?’ And Rob was like, ‘Corey, well, I am gonna have to ask Kobe about that,’” he continued.

Surprised that Pelinka needed permission to share the barber’s info so he could get a haircut, Corey inquired why that was the case. He didn’t have to do much investigation, as Rob was happy to enlighten him.

Corey reminisced about it and said, “Rob was like, ‘Kobe really likes to keep that stuff together, and he doesn’t want anybody else to have that inside information.’”

Apparently, as it so often happens at barbershops, people talk. And Kobe loved talking about his plays with his barber. “It was the craziest thing, bro. I couldn’t even get to his barber … He never gave me his barber’s information. Never,” a disappointed Corey noted.

“So I go to church … and I am sitting in front of this guy and this girl … This dude’s got a nice haircut … After church, I said, ‘Hey man, who cuts your hair?’ He said, ‘Oh man, I cut my hair.’ I said, ‘Oh, dude. Do you cut people’s hair?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, my name is Julian Payne … I cut one of the ball players’ hair too,’” Corey continued, building the tension.

“‘Really?’ I said, ‘Who?’” only to be hit with, “Kobe’s!” “I said, ‘Bro, you cut Kobe’s hair? I was just asking to get your information, and I couldn’t get it. And he was like, ‘Yeah, man. He didn’t want anybody to have that,’” he revealed.

Despite Kobe not wanting to share, Corey started seeing Julian on the side, only to get a call from a random number one day. He didn’t answer, but the person kept calling. Eventually, he picked up and heard in a deep voice, “‘Hey, what’s up, C?’”

Corey didn’t really who it was, and the caller only identified himself as KB. When he finally made the connection, Kobe told him he knew about the barber meetups but was happy to let him continue.

Maggette continued to laugh as he got more nostalgic about how Kobe was gatekeeping his barber. Corey said he also shared the story with his brother, who happens to be a barber. So, even though they laughed about the whole situation, Corey’s brother was a bit annoyed about him taking his business to someone else.