Jamie Foxx appeared on ESPN’s NBA countdown and ruffled the feathers of Kobe truthers around the world. Foxx was asked to look at a meme that Tracy McGrady posted to his Instagram that featured six of the NBA’s all-time great players–Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, and Shaquille O’Neal—accompanied with the line, “Name the worst player in this picture.”
Foxx, who was going to get shit no matter what answer he came up with, immediately blurted out five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant. His reasoning is as follows:
The only reason I’m saying it is because, if we’re trying to build a team, I think the team aspect of the players is a little different than the Kobe Bryant of…
I’ll say this. Let me explain this. I think when Michael Jordan played so well, there was something that happened with every kid that came behind Michael Jordan that it had to be themselves because Michael Jordan made this big thing. So every agent, every manager was like, ‘Yo, you have to be Michael Jordan.’ Which wasn’t necessarily, to the naked eye, the team sport. So if I’m building a team, the guys other than Kobe Bryant are more team-oriented players.
If it’s another type of, like, we’re trying to win MVPs, then Kobe Bryant is definitely a person that you would not kick off the list. You would take Tim Duncan off the list, because Tim Duncan is a quiet assassin who was always, sort of, never got out of college if you think about it. [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] sort of runs a college—think about what I’m saying—he ran a college program when you look at Pop. So it was more about quiet.
Welp, Kobe fans everywhere were appalled.
https://twitter.com/KalenKLew/status/816870868987113472
https://twitter.com/Kontra402/status/816871361209470976
Jamie Foxx swaps out hairlines like Britta filters
— Mike Ricco (@Riccola49) January 5, 2017
This Kobe fan is big mad @ Jamie 😂 pic.twitter.com/ooI05lnxNd
— Strictly 4 My X’ers (@Lizzs_Lockeroom) January 5, 2017
Kobe fans in Jamie Foxx's mentions like … pic.twitter.com/FLpKCoexjG
— Strictly 4 My X’ers (@Lizzs_Lockeroom) January 5, 2017
Nigga said Kobe…. I'm done with Jamie Foxx and his new hairline
— ~ Mohamed Iman ~ (@ItsOnlyRightIDo) January 5, 2017
Jamie Foxx a dumb ass for saying get rid of Kobe
— Mrs Shuttlesworth (@bambiii26) January 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/InMyCudiZone/status/816871305752485889
Jamie Foxx just pissed me off. Niggas love 2 hate Kobe.
Why he on here anyway?
Talk about that movie & exit.
Tf 😒✌🏾👉🏾🚪— Pooh 🐻 (@xPoohhh) January 5, 2017
I just lost all respect for Jamie foxx. Get the fuck out of here. The guy on your left got 81 points scored on him by Kobe. #fuckouttahere
— Joey Wahhab (@JoeWeezy) January 5, 2017
Poor Jamie Foxx out here just trying to promote his movie and ended up starting a war that he’s not equipped to fight.
[h/t Complex]