“Just don’t want to be weird”: Gerald McCoy reveals why once-in-a-lifetime Kobe Bryant experience was more nervous than the NFL playoffs

Kobe Bryant is considered one of the most influential athletes of all time, and not only in the NBA. The LA Lakers legend inspired several professional athletes outside of basketball, including football players.

That’s why 6x Pro-Bowl DT Gerald McCoy wasn’t going to waste an opportunity to meet him and pick his brains. Talking on the “Dan Patrick Show,” the defensive lineman revealed that he had a Kobe Bryant-themed Rolls-Royce, and he told the story of how he met him and how nervous he was.

McCoy attended an athletes’ reunion in Los Angeles, and while there were other superstars like Michael Phelps or Derek Jeter, he was nervous at seeing the legendary shooting guard.

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"I see him walking down the steps, and I'm like, 'Oh my God, this is happening!' And he walks in, and he's just a normal dude," McCoy said (Timestamp 1:31). " He walks (towards) us and he's like, 'What's up big fella?' and he's shaking everybody's hands.

"We have a meeting, we go to a player's meeting, then afterwards, we went outside to the pool and he comes outside and he sits next to me, he slaps me on the leg and he's like, 'What's up big dog? How you doing?' And we're like, having a conversation, then I ask for a picture, and then he leaves. It was almost like the perfect meeting of one of your, like, heroes, honestly. (He was) one of the people I looked up to for my entire career."

Despite not being a nervous person, he was more nervous about meeting Kobe than about playing in a playoff game.

"I was more nervous meeting Kobe, for sure, 'cause you don't want to mess things up," McCoy said (Timestamp 3:00). "You just don't want to be weird."

Stephen A. Smith says Kobe Bryant fell short in GOAT conversation

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith claims Kobe Bryant is the second-greatest shooting guard to play the game. Talking on the latest episode of "Gil's Arena," the controversial analyst explained why he can't be on the same level as Michael Jordan:

"Then they say, ‘Well, why not Kobe?’ Kobe idolized and practically it was the greatest imitation of Michael Jordan we may have ever seen in terms of style," Smith said.

"Still came up one title short, still got beat up in the NBA Finals twice. You remember that and so it’s like you’re up there, you’re great but who you aspired to be, you never caught nor eclipsed.”

Even so, there should be no shame in being No. 2 to the best player in the history of a league that's been around for eight decades.

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About the author

Ernesto Cova

Ernesto Cova is a journalist at Sportskeeda with a PhD in Sports Psychology. His education helped him develop a clearer understanding of the sports world as a whole, including basketball. Ernesto has over eight years of experience in the field, working for Fadeaway World, The Inquisitr, NBA Blast, The Cold Wire and Bolavip, among others.

His favorite team is the Chicago Bulls because of the Michael Jordan era. Jordan is Ernesto's all-time favorite, as he changed the game forever. Ernesto's second favorite was Kobe Bryant because he embodied that same competitive fire and Ernesto watched him play throughout his entire career. Nowadays, Ernesto really likes Stephen Curry, who he believes to be the most influential player of the past 15 years or so.

Ernesto's favorite basketball moment was when Venezuela -- his country -- took down Canada to take home the 2015 FIBA Americas Cup.

When not watching or writing about basketball, Ernesto likes to read and is interested in photography.

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