I remember Eddie Jones took Kobe under his wing, as did Byron Scott. Indeed, it doesn’t seem reasonable that Scott would have as good of a relationship with Kobe as he (allegedly) does now if he was once a card-carrying member of the hate-Kobe brigade. The same goes for Rick Fox, who arrived right before Kobe’s second season– especially since he and Kobe clearly seem to be pals (look at their interplay on the bench during Kobe’s Dallas/62-point game for proof).

Lazenby also mentions that it was, by and large, the veterans that allied against the young Kobe. That rules out the likes of Travis Knight.

So, who’s left? Cedric Ceballos (who departed in the middle of Kobe’s first season)? Elden Campbell? Nick the Quick? Sean Rooks? Corey Blount? These would be the likely suspects, as they have all had either had focus or work ethic issues. Still, I find it hard to believe that Fish was the only pro-Kobe guy on that team.