“Rapping Every Single Line”: Kobe Bryant’s Obsession With Jay Z Had Him Memorizing His Newest Album’s Lyrics On Day 1

and Brian Shaw were once teammates on the LA Lakers, something that helped the latter learn many things about ‘The Black Mamba’. Among these, was Kobe’s choice of music. While he listened to many different genres, including classical music, it was hip hop that he most often turned to. Advertisement According to Shaw, Kobe was a massive fan of Jay Z in the hip hop sphere.

So much so, that not only would the Lakers legend listen to the artist’s albums as soon as they came out, but he’d even memorize every single lyric of every single song. The following is what Shaw said in his 2016 article. Advertisement Loading embed tweet https://twitter.com/NBAinthezone/status/1741477220315521149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Jay Z has a massive fan following across the globe.

However, out of the millions of fans he does have, Kobe Bryant may just have been the biggest. In fact, he was such a big fan of Jay Z, that he even put one of his albums over the great Biggie Small’s work as well, as per . As an artist Jay Z is undoubtedly up there with the greats. However, the fact that Bryant put him above even Tupac and Biggie as his favourite, speaks volumes about how much he admired the rapper.

So he was likely very proud of how close the two men eventually became. Jay Z was very close to Kobe Bryant Jay Z was well aware that Kobe Bryant looked up to him for a long time. Eventually, the two forged a friendship together, with Jay Z and Beyonce even attending several Lakers games to support the Black Mamba.

By the time Kobe had retired from the NBA, they would even hang out together at each other’s houses. And it was during one such time that they had their final conversation together. The following is what Jay Z had to say on the matter in 2020 while speaking at the University of Columbia. Advertisement Loading embed tweet https://twitter.com/RocNationSports/status/1225178316522639360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Jay Z then revealed that he said that Gianna would be the best female basketball player ever, something that made Bryant beam with pride.

This is something that only worsens the nature of the tragedy that would come next. However, to this day, Bryant may be gone, but the impact he had on the billions on the face of the Earth will never disappear. Rest in peace, Black Mamba. Advertisement.