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Phoenix Suns: A Farewell To Kobe Bryant

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 23, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant waves to the crowd as he is pulled from the game in the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns defeated the Lakers 119-107. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 23, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant waves to the crowd as he is pulled from the game in the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns defeated the Lakers 119-107. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kobe Bryant
Mar 23, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) sits on the bench prior to the game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns defeated the Lakers 119-107. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Kobe’s Hatred For The Suns

“I did [hate them],” Kobe Bryant said after his final game in Phoenix. “It’s no misunderstanding. There’s no wiggle room there, I hated them. They stopped me from getting a championship. Twice. Damn right I hated them! Absolutely. Raja [Bell], Steve [Nash], all of those good guys. No question.”

Bryant’s mutual disdain for a Suns franchise that knocked him out of the playoffs twice — joining the San Antonio Spurs as the only NBA teams to do so twice with Kobe serving as one of the team’s alpha dogs — should come as no surprise. For a borderline deranged competitor like Bryant, any team capable of not only beating him, but beating him up, was a team worthy of loathing.

And beat him up, the Suns did.

In 2006, Nash’s second-seeded Suns overcame a 3-1 series deficit in the first round against Kobe’s Lakers, winning three straight games and eventually advancing to the Western Conference Finals before bowing out in six games to the Dallas Mavericks.

Though Bryant made a game-tying layup and a game-winning buzzer-beater in Game 4 of that first round series, the Suns still emerged victorious with Raja Bell delivering a Game 5 death blow — literally.

Karma would catch up to Bell, whose calf injury in the conference finals played a major factor in the Suns’ postseason departure. But in 2007, Phoenix would once again stop the seventh-seeded Lakers in the first round, this time swatting away Kobe and company in five quick games.

But while the Suns beat Kobe’s Lakers in the team’s first two playoff meetings (where Bryant was an undeniable superstar, at least), it was Phoenix that had to watch Los Angeles win two more titles in the twilight of Nash’s prime.

Next: The Suns' Hatred For Kobe

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