Kobe Bryant expected a lot from his teammates and made sure to let them know if he felt they weren’t giving their best. He was the type of a player who, even after winning five championships including a three-peat, was never satisfied. Back in 2014, Bryant once called his teammates ‘Soft like Charmin’, and that was one of the many trash talks he’d give to his young teammates. However, the former Lakers forward, who was only a rookie at the time, was in the near presence when Kobe’s wrath fell upon his teammates.

It’s only fitting for a player of his caliber who played with the same intensity in his 20th season as he played as a rookie in 1996. Michael Jordan was one of those players who even the most significant players feared facing, but not Kobe. He was as competitive as Jordan was, if not more, and that was one of the reasons why His Airness saw Kobe differently from the others.

Kobe Bryant called his teammates ‘Soft like Charmin’ during a practice session

Kobe’s former teammate Julius Randle shared a story about one of those times when Kobe called out his teammates. Young stars like D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson were part of the Lakers during the Black Mamba’s final few seasons. During Randle’s rookie year, he was sidelined for the whole season with a fractured leg injury.

Randle revealed an intense incident from his first season as a Laker involving Kobe Bryant in a recent podcast discussion with Paul George on Podcast P with Paul George. He recalled Kobe criticizing his teammates during a practice session for being “soft as Charmin” and “trash.” Kobe expressed his dissatisfaction with their performance, claiming that it was making him worse.

The New York Knicks forward reflected on Kobe questioning the GM Mitch Kupchak, asking him, “Mitch I’m supposed to get better with this s**t.” As per Randle, expressing his anger towards his teammates, Kobe marched towards the locker room where he found Randle. He said to him, ‘Ju, what the f**k is this Ju? I’m supposed to practice? These motherf***s making me worse.'”

This incident shows how hard and demanding Kobe was as a teammate, always pushing everyone to play their best. However, Kobe later cleared out that he’d do this to raise the intensity level among his teammates.

Kobe was the most demanding player in the game

The 18x NBA All-star once said that the people with whom he always had issues or problems were the people that didn’t demand excellence for themselves. He said he’d hold the guys to a higher standard. There’s no denying that Bryant demanded excellence from his teammates so that when they are done with the game, they could relax and feel good for not just playing but being good at their positions.

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Kobe was known to have never made friendships in his career. He was all about the game, and winning at any cost. Among the younger players, Kyrie Irving was very close with the Black Mamba. Kobe once recalled an incident after the Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA championship in 2016 after a historic comeback.

Irving called and thanked him, saying, “Dude, it worked, your advice worked.” When we say Kobe was demanding, it definitely means in the most competitive way. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments!

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