Hill challenged Kobe at the rim in their final meeting against one another in February.
Pacers center Jordan Hill spent two and half years playing alongside Kobe Bryant, who is calling it a career Wednesday night at the Staples Center. For the final time, he’ll suit up in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform and do what he loves.
Dozens of Nike-sponsored athletes, including the Pacers’ Paul George, are honoring him by wearing special Kobe-theme Nike shoes for what has been dubbed “Mamba Day.”
Jordan Hill played 193 games in a Laker uniform, including the postseason. He was a free agent this past July and elected to join the Pacers on a one-year deal.
Recently, I talked with Hill about Kobe, his mentality and the intense pressure felt when playing with him.
What was it like to play with Kobe?
He’s a differnet animal. Playing with him and being on the court with him kind of amps me up, brings my mentality up. I’m like, ‘Man, I got to go out there and show out. I’m playing with one of the greatest who ever played, I’m playing with a champion, I’m playing with a winner, so I just got to go out there and compete.
[Jordan Hill shares what’s in store for Roy Hibbert with Kobe]
And don’t screw up?
Well, I mean I really don’t worry about screwing up. That does nothing to me. Everybody is going to screw up, even he screws up sometimes. You have to have the mentality to keep going, to keep fighting, and make up for that screw up.
I had a great time playing with him and I wish him the best.
Jordan Hill and Kobe built a friendship during his two-plus years in L.A.
Is it fair to say players are scared to go play with him because of what he’s done, what he’s trying to do, and who he is?
Of course. When I first got traded [to the Lakers in mid-March, 2012], I go, ‘Ahhh s—, here we go.’ Kobe is just a winner. … He’s going to go out there and do whatever he can to get a win and he wants his teammates to go out there and do the same thing. If you’re not, he just don’t want nothing to do with you.
His mentality going out there is like, ‘I’m the best on this court, I’m the best to have ever played, I’m the best in this world,’ and he just wants his teammates to go out there and compete just like he does.
[Kobe give Paul George his shoes after their final battle]
What immediately comes to mind when you think about what it was like to play for the Lakers?
Probably just playing in that atmosphere and playing with one of the greatest ever to step on the court. They had guys that I really got along with on and off the court. The Lakers are definitely one of the top tier franchises in the NBA so I had a good time out there. Lights on you everywhere you go — you go get something to eat, go use the bathroom, they’re everywhere. It was definitely the place to be at.