Kobe Bryant: Jordan Crawford Claims Black Mamba Hisses on Court

Talk about taking a nickname to heart, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, aka The Black Mamba, is really embodying his on-court alter ego.

Washington Wizards guard Jordan Crawford spilled the beans on a little-known detail about Bryant's on-court behavior. Apparently, Bryant hisses like a snake to his teammates whenever he wants the ball.

Crawford told Dan LeBetard of Dan LeBetard is Highly Questionable:

"

When I first played with Kobe—they call him the Black Mamba—but then he was doing like a little snake sound when he wanted the ball. It was crazy. It was crazy. It’s like tsssss, tsssss. Like fishing. Tsssss, tssss.

He do that. Everybody tells you he’s gonna do it before you play him—like, Wait till you hear him do this.’ And then he [does] it, and it’s like, what? He’s really a mamba. It sounds like some kind of snake.

"

What would he do if his nickname was "Boa Constrictor"? Would he wrap himself around the neck of a teammate until they just coughed up the ball?

Something tells me he'd like to wrap himself around Dwight Howard's neck right about now.

This type of ego-maniacal behavior is part of why we love—and why some people hate—him. You have to be pretty into yourself to make hissing for the ball a thing, especially in accordance with a nickname.

He is one of the most self-centered, egotistical and selfish athletes I've ever seen. Yet, he is one of the most competitive, focused and brilliantly talented as well. Nobody is perfect, and Kobe's hissing for the ball is proof—and so is that awful hip hop album from the 1990s.

I fully expect for camera and audio crews to try to capture the hiss during Bryant and the Lakers' next appearance on national television. We can add it to the long list of Kobe pop culture.

File it behind the scowl, but in front of the shirt-in-the-mouth jump shot. This is what happens when you're as great and as crazy as Bryant.

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