John Ireland is in his fifth season as the Lakers radio play-by-play announcer, but has been embedded with the team for almost 15 years, serving as the KCAL-9 sideline reporter from 2002-11. One of his favorite memories comes straight from the hotel bar; a couple hours after a playoff series win against the Houston Rockets.

“By the time I got back to the hotel, it was a couple hours after the team. So, our whole travel party is in the bar and Kobe is in the corner and motions over to me and goes, ‘Hey John, you want a beer? And I go, ‘Hey Kobe you don’t have to buy me a beer.’ And Kobe has this smirk on his face and points down. And, I look down and there are probably 17 or 18 opened, but totally full beers. What had been happening prior to me getting there, were fans going ‘I’ve always wanted to buy you a beer!’ And so, he just says thank you very much and he takes it and puts it down on the floor. I went back after the first one and go, ‘Can I take another? And he goes trust me, ‘There’s no way we’re going to drink all of these.’ Moral of the story: If you’re one of the fans in the bar that wants to buy Kobe a beer, chances are he already has 18 of them.”​



Mike Trudell has been the beat reporter for Lakers.com, since the 2008-09 season. Currently in his fifth season as the team’s sideline reporter for Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Trudell’s favorite memory involves Thanksgiving dinner and a Ping-Pong table.

“​Thanksgiving 2013, and the team was in Detroit. None of us had plans. We thought we were going to have Thanksgiving alone. So, Kobe basically made sure that one of the ballrooms was open and had a fully catered Thanksgiving meal for everybody. Inside this room there’s a Ping-Pong table and some of us are playing, and I grew up with a Ping-Pong table, so I’m pretty good. At some point, Kobe makes a comment about one of the players I had just beaten. So I said, ‘Kobe if you want to, I’m happy to give some to you next.’ So, we play the first game and you can tell he can play, but he’s not a super experienced Ping-Pong player, so I sense a couple weaknesses and beat him rather handedly the first game. He is talking a bit of shit, mostly just calling me a MF-er. But, the reason I’m telling this story is not as a humble brag but because during the entire game, he was literally watching every point and learning as the game is going on. So, we get done with the game, and he wants to go again. Now, I beat him again the second time, but he got much closer. Within 5 minutes, he was taking the Ping-Pong game so seriously, and I thought, this is why he’s so great at basketball. I’ve never competed against anybody in anything, and I played a D1 sport, that felt as intense as that Ping-Pong game.”​



The Spanish broadcasting duo of Adrian Garcia Marquez and Francisco Pinto are in their fourth season with the Lakers and both of their favorite moments also have something to do with that Thanksgiving dinner.

Adrian: “​This is how I found out how competitive as hell Kobe Bean Bryant is. Thanksgiving dinner in Detroit and the centerpiece on the table are flowers and footballs, so Mark Madsen and I grab a football and we start chucking it. Kobe does the universal sign of throw me the football, so I chuck him the ball. He’s like ‘OK we’re going to play a game of drops, if you drop a football, it’s a point for the other guy. So, we’re going at it, chucking the ball hard and it’s one handed catches and I’m trying to beat him. So, I was up by 1, it was like 10-9. Next thing you know, I bobble a ball and it lands in a pumpkin pie, so when it lands in a pumpkin pie all I hear is Kobe’s voice say, ‘Aww that’s minus two dog, you just killed a pumpkin pie, that’s two points for me.’ Now he’s up by 1, we’re going at it a couple more, and I finally drop that last one and I’m thinking to myself, I was only 2 points away from being able to tell my grandkids I beat Kobe Bryant at something. I said, ‘I want a rematch!’ and he goes ‘NOPE next!’”​

Francisco: “​What you haven’t heard is that after every player went to sleep Kobe, stayed with just a few of us and we talked for like an hour and a half after everybody had left. We talked about everything, basketball, life, contracts, a bunch of stuff…drinking beer, we drank so much Stella. That was the first time that I had a real conversation with him. That guy is so freaking smart. He’s really funny, if you get him at the right time.

“​And when he cusses in Spanish, that’s the best. Perfect accent, perfect.”​