Paul Pierce Recalls Intense Kobe Bryant Moment at Magic Johnson’s 'Midnight Magic' Party

Kobe Bryant was one of the most intense personalities the NBA has ever seen. He was so intense that even off the court, he would continue to play mind games with his opponents by saying and doing certain things. One of those comments stuck with a rookie Paul Pierce when he spotted Kobe at a club in 1998.

Pierce originally met Bryant at a forum when he was drafted in 1996. But the second time he ever met him was at Magic Johnson’s “Midnight Magic” party a few years later. It was there that Pierce got his first impression of Kobe.

Now, most NBA fans remember how intense Bryant was from the get-go of his first few years in the NBA. Of course, we would see him laughing and smiling on the court. But off the court, he worked like a maniac. Training intensely and pushing himself to the absolute limit physically. 

Perhaps no better encapsulation of Kobe’s intense personality came when Pierce saw what he was wearing to the party.

“You get dressed up for Magic, you know what I’m saying? So, he’s in there with a sweatsuit,” Pierce shared on All Facts No Breaks with Keyshawn Johnson.

It’s not surprising to hear that Kobe seemingly refused to dress up for the event. At the time, he was a serious person who wasn’t going to adhere to anyone. If he was going to go to a party, he was going to be comfortable in his clothes. 

But it was what Bryant said to Pierce when he went over to interact with him that stuck in his memory.

“I see he’s over there in the corner, so I go over to him like, ‘What’s up, what’re you doing, why don’t you come hang out?’ He was just like, ‘No, I’m just chilling. Just be careful out here, Paul.’ Like, he said that to me! I grew up here, I’m older than him, and he’s telling me to be careful,” Pierce said while laughing.

It must have been funny for Pierce to hear such a thing from the younger player. However, the ominous warning could have meant something. Pierce never made it clear what the comments truly meant. Was it for him to stay careful and alert at the party in case anything happened? Or was it for him not to overindulge in substances? Or was it a “I’ll see you on the court” type of thing? 

Who knows what Kobe meant by the comments? But what we do know is that he was a maniac who was always trying to carve out real estate in his opponents’ minds. 

Kobe and Pierce turned a commercial shoot into a 1v1 battle

Another great example of how crazy Bryant was came when Pierce shared a story about them shooting a commercial together. It was supposed to be a quick and easy ordeal. Yet Kobe wouldn’t even let Pierce get comfortable dribbling the ball during the shoot. 

“The scene is like, we’re going to let you get the ball, make some moves on Kobe, then shoot. We did commercials, all of us. So, I’m dribbling, going through the motions, and he’s just knocking the ball out of my hand. I’m like, alright, whatever,” Pierce said.

But what’s crazy is that Kobe continually tried to take the ball from Paul throughout the commercial shoot. “So, I do it again, and he knocks it. I’m like, hold on. You trying to take this sh*t seriously?” 

Before Pierce knew it, he was in a full-on head-to-head battle with Bryant during a commercial. It’s a hilarious story that perfectly describes the type of person Kobe was. 

It’s truly the mark of an insane person. But it’s also what we love reminiscing about so much when we think of Bryant. His work ethic was second to none, and it’s almost hilarious how hard he always tried to make an effort to compete. It was Michael Jordan-like in a sense. We miss him more and more every day.