Chris Douglas-Roberts has quietly been a fan favorite in Los Angeles for the past two years, with the city discretely rooting for him to make the roster. This year, many expected him to, at the very least, receive a camp invite from the team when it was announced that he would again be on the Lakers Summer League roster.
However, it was Elias Harris and Marcus Landry who caught the eye of the team and CDR was left to try and find a home elsewhere. Douglas-Roberts was invited to the Knicks training camp, and was one of the last to be released by the team.
After the Knicks let him go, he shared this story about competing against Kobe Bryant during his first practice with the team in last year’s training camp on his Instagram account.
A lot of ppl wondered why Bean spoke so highly of me last yr. First day of camp Mike Brown tried to throw me in the fire right away. Made me & Bean 1 on 1 partners for the whole first practice. What Mike Brown didn’t know is that’s what I was waiting for. That whole day we went head up. At one point it damn near came to blows bc Bean will do anything for an edge. So he was elbowing me on the low for separation & I couldn’t let that go as a competitor. As a man. The refs were too scared to call the foul bc he was intimidating them all practice. But at then end it was all love. The respect is mutual. Gave me some pointers that are priceless. It’s a misconception on Bean. Ppl think he’s a sucker…hard to play with. It’s just that he expects the most of his teammates bc he works so hard. Easily realist hooper I’ve met. He never lies and I respect that. #ClosestThingtoJordan #HeNeverSleepsEither#ImOut
For many, going head-to-head with one of the NBA’s greats would prove to be intimidating, but for Douglas-Roberts, he took it as an opportunity to take advantage of a situation and try to prove his worth to a prominent organization.
For Bryant, it shows that he recognizes that, even the guys who struggle to make teams can earn his respect just by working hard and competing. Douglas-Roberts’ story shows a side of Bryant that many may not know about just by watching him on the court during the season.
Douglas-Roberts has suffered yet another set back by missing another cut with another NBA team, but if we can gain anything from the story he shared, this wont’ be the last time that we hear from the Memphis product, and he’s going to continue to work to earn his way onto an NBA roster.
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