Jalen Rose, Kobe Bryant: Admits Intentionally Injuring Lakers Star In 2000 [VIDEO]
In a clip from his very own "The Jalen Rose Show" released on Tuesday, Sept. 18, former NBA player Jalen Rose admitted that he purposely injured Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant in Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals.
"NBA Finals 2000. Kobe. Bean. Bryant. Goes up for a jump shot on the right wing, I contest the jump shot, Kobe lands on my foot. He hobbles off, and he actually misses the next game," Rose explained.
Bryant ended up playing in only nine minutes in the second game of the series, which Los Angeles still won. However, he was forced to miss Game 3, which Rose's Indiana Pacers were victorious in by a 100-91 margin.
"Now if it was up to me? If it was up to me? He should've just missed the whole series. I would've had a championship ring, and it'd be no harm, no foul," Rose said.
Dave Jacoby, the producer of the podcast show, tried pressing the 39-year-old on whether or not he meant to injure Bryant.
"... I think I did it on purpose," Rose stated.
Jacoby further pushed Rose for the controversial answer by saying, "You think you did it on purpose? You won't even cop to it? You won't even say, 'Yes, I did it.' 'I think?' "
Rose finally came clean by replying with "... I can't say that it was an accident."
However, the retired NBA basketball player feels as though he did receive his share of negative karma for the incident, which included Bryant scoring a whopping 81 points on Rose and his Toronto Raptors some five and a half years later.
Rose is currently a successful media personality who actually does do good work in his community. In September 2011, he founded the Jalen Rose Leadership academy in Detroit, an open enrollment public charter school. The institution is partnered up with the University of Detroit Mercy. Students are able to take university classes when they graduate to upperclassmen.
CLICK HERE to watch Bryant's injury occur in the 2000 NBA Finals.