Old rival Garnett pays tribute to Bryant

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett during the 2010 NBA Finals. AP

Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant are surefire Hall-of-Famers. Bryant was the Michael Jordan of his era after ‘His Airness’ retired while Garnett revolutionized the power forward position. 

Both have shared epic battles in the playoffs and in the Finals, with Bryant and Garnett splitting their two championship matches, but one of them had bid his farewell while the other offered his thanks.

“Kobe, you’ve been a blessing to all of us, not just for the game, but to the sport,” Garnett said in a video message the Minnesota Timberwolves shared on social media.

Bryant played his final game on Thursday (Manila time) where he scored 60 points before a sellout crowd at Staples Center in Hollywood.

READ: Mamba Out: One final show of greatness for Kobe Bryant

Garnett faced Bryant in the 2008 and 2010 Finals with the Boston Celtics emerging victorious in their first encounter.

“Playing against Kobe, is like playing a grizzly bear, if anything, if there’s fear in you he’s gonna expose it,” Garnett said. “I’ve actually enjoyed being in a competition with Kob, Kob is gonna bring the best out of you and when you play against the best, you gotta be at your best and anytime I’m pushed like that I have nothing but respect for you.”

Garnett and Bryant shared the All-Star floor 14 times and have been teammates nine times, but it was their first time together in 1998 in New York that resonated with “The Big Ticket.”

“My favorite Kobe moment was when both of us were in New York, I think I’m 20 and he was like 19 or 18 or something,” Garnett said. “We remember how nervous we both were.”

It was also Jordan’s final All-Star game with the Chicago Bulls and Bryant had to match up against the Greatest Of All Time.

“People were making a pretty big deal out of it, and he and MJ were matched up and it was just classic and epic,” Garnett said. “And I was front row and center and to be able to not only experience but say I was there.”

What made the bond stronger between the two legends was Garnett’s alley-oop pass to Bryant which the 2004 MVP even likened to something of divine quality.

“I remember I threw an alley-oop and I always called it the ‘alley-oop from God’ because I threw it too high, what I thought was too high, and he caught it not one-handed but two-handed,” Garnett said.

“I have to say Kobe and I have a special relationship and you know it’s nothing but love on his side.”