In April, when time officially catches up with one of the best scorers in NBA history, just about everyone in professional basketball will have their “Kobe Bryant story.”

It could be playing alongside Bryant in his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers. It could be facing or teaming up with him in what will be, come February, his 18th NBA All-Star game. It could be as small as guarding him on one possession as Bryant’s farewell tour snakes through North America.

Mike Hopkins, who has one game left as Syracuse’s interim head coach and will take over the program in 2018, crossed paths with Bryant while working as a court coach for USA basketball. In the summer of 2012, while Bryant, Hopkins and Team USA were preparing for the Olympics in London, the two engaged in a post-practice game of one-on-one. If the team wasn’t meeting with U.S. military members later that evening, a coach who witnessed the game joked that it would have never ended.

“It was arguably one of my greatest moments ever in basketball,” Hopkins said, and here is how he recounted it in an October interview.

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While Team USA was preparing for the 2010 FIBA World Championship, Hopkins developed a workout routine with star Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant.

Durant moved to five different spots on the floor to work on one-on-one moves. Hopkins defended him aggressively, talked trash and playfully smacked the ball out of Durant’s hands in between plays. After a while, Hopkins and Durant did this before and after every practice and that continued during preparation for the Summer Olympics in 2012.

“Hop come on, let’s go!” Hopkins remembers Durant saying to him after practice one day, and Durant and LeBron James went to the far basket at George Washington University’s gym.

While they went through the five spots, with Hopkins closely defending two of the world’s best players, Bryant and Thunder guard Russell Westbrook took jump shots on the main court. Hopkins noticed Bryant watching him drill Durant and James. When they finished up, Hopkins walked across the court to say hello to current Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala.

Then he got a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see Bryant standing with a ball in his hand. The two had never met.

“Yo you want to do some of that mid-post stuff you were doing down there with those guys?” Bryant asked him, and Hopkins stumbled on his words before saying yes.

Because he didn’t know Bryant, Hopkins was hesitant to play him too hard. They set up on the elbow and Hopkins handed him the ball. Bryant took a hard jab step before hitting his patented fadeaway jump shot. Hopkins went to get the ball out of the net then handed it to him again.

But Bryant had watched how hard Hopkins defended Durant and James and wasn’t satisfied.

“Are you going to play defense?” Hopkins remembers Bryant asking him.

“You want me to play defense?” Hopkins asked back.

“Oh I want you to play defense,” Bryant answered, smirking at Hopkins.

And off they went. Hopkins started hitting Bryant’s arms and pushing him away from the rim. When he went for a block and tipped Bryant’s shot he started trash talking. Hopkins was only playing defense and they moved to every spot on the floor, both drenched in sweat, as Bryant surgically created space and poured jumper after jumper through the hoop.

The rest of the team was out of the gym. The media wanted to talk to Bryant but he told them to wait. Team USA and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski wanted to introduce Bryant to his grandchildren but he told them to wait, too.

Finally, after an hour or so passed, Hopkins and Bryant had to stop because Team USA was meeting with U.S. military personnel. Both were reluctant to leave the court. Hopkins shyly asked Bryant if he could take a picture with his son Griffin, and Bryant smiled for Hopkins’ iPhone camera before hitting the showers and calling it a day.

A video was taken of the game by Fairport (New York) High School head coach Scott Fitch, but it hasn’t been recovered from a cracked iPad. Three years later, Hopkins wants to see the video but he can also replay it all in his head. The way Bryant brought a different, detailed approach to each spot. The way his feet moved like a ballerina’s. The way he tirelessly competed in an empty college gym while only a few people were watching.

It’s a Kobe Bryant story Hopkins will never forget.

“There was no other place on the planet Kobe would have liked to have been at that moment,” Hopkins said. “You see what the best have, and it was just awesome how much fun it was for him to play the game. I got to be a part of that.”

Published on January 4, 2016 at 12:00 am

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