Kobe doesn't want everyone 'going soft' during All-Star Game
With the starting lineup for the 2016 All-Star game set to be announced Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, Kobe Bryant leads all players with 1,533,432 votes, making it very likely he'll start for the Western Conference next month.
However, like Michael Jordan before him, Bryant doesn't want his fellow All-Stars taking it easy on him just because it's his final All-Star Game.
"One thing that Michael said was, ‘just because it’s my last All-Star Game, I don’t want you to come out there going soft on me,'" Bryant told Yahoo's Marc J. Spears.
Players certainly didn't take it easy on Jordan in 2003, as the then-Washington Wizards guard finished just 9-of-27 from the field for 20 points. Kevin Garnett ended up taking home the MVP award in the West's 155-145 victory.
While Bryant hasn't had a particularly good year by his standards, the 37-year-old has shone in All-Star games in the past, collecting four MVP awards.
Given his competitive nature, he'd like to earn a fifth, not have it handed to him.
"I want you to play me how you would normally play me."