Kobe Bryant Explains Lakers GM Rob Pelinka's Heath Ledger Dinner Story
It turns out Kobe Bryant can't bend the laws of space and time.
In May, ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes shared how Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka once told the team how Bryant had dinner with Heath Ledger after the Lakers star watched The Dark Knight. As many pointed out, Ledger died in January 2008, before The Dark Knight hit theaters.
During an appearance on Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles' podcast Knuckleheads, Bryant explained what really happened (h/t CBSSports.com's Pete Blackburn):
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"I had to find that space. I didn't go out to dinner in New York. I stayed in my room. This is actually the story Rob told, that he got confused about, the Heath Ledger stuff. Because I stayed up watching Batman, and watching Heath Ledger. And then I went and started researching about Heath Ledger, and how he got into character and how he just became all-consuming. That inspired me to go into my Garden mode. When I go in there I don't want to say hi to the gen—I don't want say hi to these people—I don't wanna talk to nobody. Everybody leave me alone."
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was preparing to speak with the Lakers players when Pelinka shared the anecdote. He said Bryant had been so impressed with Ledger's turn as The Joker, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, that the future Hall of Famer wanted to know how Ledger prepared for the role.
The comments come at the 1:35 mark of the video.
While outsiders experienced a bit of schadenfreude when reading Holmes' in-depth piece on the Lakers' struggles—with the Ledger anecdote standing out—it was anything but funny to Bryant.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reported in May that Kobe was "livid" to be mentioned alongside the general drama surrounding Los Angeles:
For the most part, fans had forgotten the whole thing. It became merely a footnote in a busy Lakers offseason that included Magic Johnson throwing Pelinka under the bus and the acquisition of Anthony Davis.
At least Bryant has set the record straight.
