Kobe Bryant apparently had it out for JJ Redick at Team USA basketball practice.
That’s according to Carmelo Anthony, who discussed Bryant hazing Redick — the newly appointed Lakers coach — at practice years ago as a way of retaliating against what he seemingly thought was excessive praise from coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“I remember Kobe couldn’t stand JJ Redick,” Anthony recently recalled on his “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast with The Kid Mero and their guest, Knicks forward Julius Randle.
“So he came into practice, I hope somebody vouches for me on this story, I swear to God, if anybody was on that [team] they know. They might have their own version of the story but people know.”
Redick tried out for the Team USA squad for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing but did not make the roster, which was coached by Krzyzewski, his former coach at Duke.
“The moral of the story is Kobe took it personal on JJ Redick in practice, because he got tired of [how] Coach K kept talking about JJ Redick,” Anthony continued.
“Kobe took it very, very personally, to the point where he was running through screens in practice. He was denying JJ the ball. He was fouling the s–t out of JJ.
“I’m like, ‘Damn why you treating the young boy like that?'”
Anthony then mimicked Bryant answering, “Man, f–k that motherf–ker.”
“What’s the problem?” Anthony followed up, wanting to know Bryant’s issue with Redick.
Bryant allegedly answered, “Coack K keeps talking about this motherf–ker. He come up here to do something. F–k this motherf–ker. I’m a show you today.”
Anthony laughed that Bryant wouldn’t let Redick score at all in practice.
Anthony and Bryant won a gold medal with the 2008 squad, which featured Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and current Lakers superstar LeBron James, among others.
The former Knicks star’s story comes as Redick, whose name circulated during the Lakers’ head coaching search, agreed to a four-year deal to become the next coach of the storied franchise, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday.
The late Bryant, who tragically passed away in a helicopter crash in 2020, won five championships with the Lakers, whom he played for from 1996-2016.
