Kobe Bryant used a Bosnian swear word to get in Jusuf Nurkic‘s head during a game, according to the Blazers center.
Nurkic was shocked that Bryant had taken the time to learn a tiny bit of his language to gain an edge on the court.
The Black Mamba famously speaks many languages, and evidently put them to use during his playing days.
Per NBC Sports (via ESPN):
“He’s shooting the free throws (Kobe), and I’m out there like: ‘Nobody can even touch him, how is that possible?’ Whole night he was shooting free throws.
“He actually said a word in my language. I’m I was like, ‘I didn’t really hear right. He can’t speak my language!'”
“Then we go back and forward, and he goes again to [shoot] free throws. And he repeats that! It was [a] curse word! I was like, ‘I’m pretty sure he said that!'”
“After a couple years in the league, he was preparing himself and he plays against some teams he will try to learn a little bit about every player he plays.”
