Kobe Bryant’s competitive fire burned hot enough to sucker punch a teammate over $100 unpaid bet. But what came one day after shocked ex-Lakers star Samaki Walker more than anything that happened inside their team bus.
The late Lakers legend left an emotional voicemail crying after hitting Walker in 2002. Walker’s fault? He didn’t pay the $100 bet after losing a shootaround.
Walker shared the entire wild story on Byron Scott’s Fast Break podcast recently, spilling beans on the incident that shed new light on Bryant’s intensity.
Samaki Walker Recalls Getting Punched by Kobe Bryant
The incident started with a simple shooting contest at practice. Players threw in $100 each, and whoever made the half-court shot first took the payout.
“We’re doing a shooting thing for $100. You make it you get the pot. Kobe won the pot,” Walker explained. “Rule is you got 48 hours to pay. I never heard a story where somebody didn’t pay $100.”
But the 48-hour window hadn’t expired when Bryant came collecting his reward. Walker and the Lakers were heading to shootaround the next morning. He didn’t have cash on him.
“The next day on the bus I didn’t have the cash on me at the time, it wasn’t 48 hours yet,” Walker said. “Kobe asked if I had his money, I said I don’t have my wallet with me but I got you when we get back.”
Walker thought that was the end of it. He threw his headphones back on and tried to zone out. That’s when Bryant suddenly hit him with an absolute sucker punch. “I put my headphones back on and BOW, took off on me,” Walker recalled.
Former Laker Samaki Walker tells story where Kobe Bryant sucker punched him over $100 😳
“We’re doing a shooting thing for $100. You make it you get the pot. Kobe won the pot. Rule is you got 48 hours to pay. I never heard a story where somebody didn’t pay $100. The next day on… pic.twitter.com/YDsuToDpku
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) December 23, 2025
“I went from 0 to 60,” Walker admitted. “I’m thinking, I’m going to kill this motherf—– dude. I don’t give a f— who he is, or what happened, I’m gonna kill him.”
If their teammates hadn’t stopped both, then either one of the two could have been sent to the hospital. Walker even told Phil Jackson to stop the bus so they could finish it outside. But Bryant declined and allegedly left the area in a taxi.
When Walker returned to his hotel room, something very surprising stopped his inner bad blood, and it was a voicemail from Kobe, which was funny and adorable at the same time.
“I get on the phone, it’s a message from him,” Walker said. “The motherf—–‘s crying. I swear to God crying on my phone man.”
Walker recalled what Bryant told him via that tearful phone call, saying. “I don’t know what was wrong with me, I don’t know why I did what I did with my friends.”
Walker was caught off guard following Bryant’s emotional confession. The same dude who just sucker-punched him was now breaking down in tears, calling him a friend.
“Now he’s calling me a friend!” Walker said. “But he’s literally on his phone emotional which made me understand this is bigger than basketball.”
The crying voicemail changed everything for Walker. He realized Bryant was dealing with serious personal issues beyond their petty beef.
However, Walker never specified what Bryant was going through, but 2002 was a turbulent year for the late Lakers star. Reports indicated friction between Bryant and his parents over his marriage to Vanessa, and the late Lakers legend was pissed off with his family drama.
Anyways, the sucker punch story resurfaces every few years as a reminder of Bryant’s legendary intensity, which is nowhere present in the modern NBA.
Players would likely be fined or suspended, the league would investigate, and social media would pile on. Even the best friend didn’t come in handy when things turned serious between players and the head coach.
But in 2002, teammates fought, cried, made up, and won championships together. The bus incident became locker-room lore instead of a PR nightmare.
