Vince Carter learns he was Kobe's motivation in high school

Vince Carter's history with Kobe Bryant on the court runs deeper than most.

The pair used to play together on the AAU circuit, but the Memphis Grizzlies star only recently learned that the Los Angeles Lakers veteran's high school coach would often use Carter as motivation for young Kobe.

According to the Los Angeles Daily News:

Lower Merion High coach Gregg Downer invoked Carter's name to motivate Bryant. Carter helped Mainland High, of Daytona Beach, Florida, to a state championship his senior season in 1995 while nursing injuries to his right wrist and right ankle. So, Downer challenged Bryant to do the same thing his senior campaign for Lower Merion High, a suburban school outside of Philadelphia.

It obviously worked, as the young Bryant was instrumental in helping his school end their 53-year state championship drought with a title.

And the Black Mamba took that motivation with him to the pros.

"When I came into the league, I always wanted to play extra hard against Vince because of it," explained Bryant.

This was all news to Carter, though.

"It's pretty cool, especially since I didn't know that," Carter told the Los Angeles News Group. "Any information he can get for the good of himself to better him, he's going to use. It doesn't surprise me."