Carmelo Anthony Recalls Going To War With Kobe Bryant During The 2009 Western Conference Finals

On a forthcoming episode of “All The Smoke,” Carmelo Anthony recalls how competitive and intense Kobe Bryant was on the court.

He references Kobe as “The Greatest,” and he talks about how they became close in the Olympics prior to the 2009 Western Conference Finals.

In the preview clip of the podcast, Carmelo recalls battling Kobe in the Western Conference Finals in 2009 and said they hugged before the game.

Then, Kobe let him know it was going to be a war on the court.

I remember we hugged before the game… he was like it’s war!

I said, it’s war!… Like, let’s get it!… It ain’t gone be nothing easy.

Carmelo said the game got very physical and Kobe was pushing his buttons to see if he was going to fold or stand tall.

Eventually, Kobe started calling him a bully because he was matching his physicality.

Watch the video clip below:

The full podcast episode of “All The Smoke” with Carmelo Anthony drops tomorrow (August 19).

It’s still hard to believe that Kobe is no longer here.

RIP to Kobe, GiGi, and the seven other people who was on the plane.