<a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/420626-giannis-antetokounmpo-is-the-highest-ranked-player-in-2k-fans-react-news" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Giannis Antetokounmpo</a> says that he doesn&#8217;t like to be compared to the great, Kobe Bryant, telling The Athletic&#8217;s Eric Nehm that he &#8220;will never disrespect&#8221; the <a href="https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/442174-kobe-bryants-adidas-crazy-1-sunshine-gets-a-release-date" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">late Lakers legend</a>.



“I will never say this, I will never disrespect the name of the great Kobe. I don’t like mentioning him,” Antetokounmpo told the outlet. “I feel like he should be mentioned, should never be forgotten. But I don’t like mentioning his name to bring attention to the conversation that we are about to have. I wasn’t close to him. I wasn’t this with him or that with him. But I would say this, in some areas of his mindset, I think we’re very similar.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GettyImages-1392029667.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-443061" srcset="https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GettyImages-1392029667.jpg 1024w, https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GettyImages-1392029667.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://editor.urbanlinx.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GettyImages-1392029667.jpg?resize=768,512 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



From there, Antetokounmpo made reference to Bryant’s famous “Mamba Mentality,” explaining just how passionate Bryant was about the game of basketball. While the two were friendly on the sidelines, Bryant made it clear they were opponents on the court.



“I might not be as talented as him, but when we’re talking about a guy that worked extremely hard from his first day until he retired. A guy that plays to win, a guy that pushes himself to the limit, a guy that has a killer mentality when he steps on the court,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s almost like having — I think he had two personalities. Like when we were on the sideline and we were talking and I was taking notes, laughing smiling, joking around, talking. But when we stepped on the court, It was like motherf—er didn’t even know me. ‘I thought you were like my friend.’”



Antetokounmpo and the Bucks began their regular season against the 76ers, earlier this week, winning the matchup 90-88. They will take on the Rockets, Saturday night.



[<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bucks-news-i-dont-like-mentioning-him-giannis-antetokounmpo-reveals-why-he-doesnt-agree-with-kobe-bryant-comparisons/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Via</a>]

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