Kings fans deservedly have a lot of opinions about Lakers star Kobe Bryant, but as he travels through the twilight of his career, it is fun to hear from a player who's legacy is so closely tied to Sacramento's.
Holding a conference call on Monday night in Los Angeles with reporters across the country, No. 24 reflected on his playing career, his prospects for the 2016 All-Star game, playing in the Olympics and much more.
One of the more interesting questions, however, was about the top five teams and top five players he's faced in his illustrious career. Spanning nearly two decades, Kobe has had the privilege of playing against a multitude of legendary players and legendary teams.
It should come with a sense of pride for Kings fans that the first team out of his mouth, when choosing his top five teams, was the early 2000s Sacramento Kings.
The other teams included the 2008 Boston Celtics, 2004 Detroit Pistons, 1996 Chicago Bulls and the Spurs "almost any year."
The Kings are high on his list because they were the one team during the Lakers 1999-2002 dominance that nearly beat them - a team that featured two shoo-in Hall of Famers in Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal and a now 11-time NBA Champion head coach in Phil Jackson.
From 1999-2005 Kobe's Lakers held a 13-11 regular season record against the Kings and a 11-5 record against Sacramento in the playoffs, but the wins never came easy. An upstart 1999-00 Kings team featuring a young Jason Williams, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac took the No. 1 seeded Lakers to a deciding fifth game and then two years later were five minutes away from defeating the two-time defending champions in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.
Kobe didn't expand on why any of these team's ranked in his top five, but one can assume the Kings were up there in part because of Bryant's counterpart and defensive stalwart Doug Christie.
Christie matched up with 17-time All-Star 26 times (15 regular season games and 11 postseason games)and had two of his best defensive games in two of the biggest moments. No. 13 held Kobe to just 22 points on 21 shots and four turnovers in Game Two of the Western Conference Finals and 22 points on 24 shots in Game Three of that same series, both Kings wins.
Even though the Kings didn't win that series, they clearly earned the respect of one of the greatest players of this generation. As Kobe's career comes to a close and thus his rightful place historically as "enemy No. 1" of Sacramento Kings fans and the like, we can look back at those times and remember and cherish the battle, because he certainly does as well.
To get tickets to Kobe's last game in Sacramento on January 7, click here.
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