CHRIS ROCK TALKS HATING ON KOBE BRYANT DURING 81-POINT GAME

In promoting his “Top Five” movie, Chris Rock stopped by NBA TV’s GameTime to chop it up with Rick Kamla, Isiah Thomas and Steve Smith. In doing so, the comedian/actor told the hosts the story about him witnessing Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game back in 2006 and doing some serious hating on the Los Angeles Lakers superstar during the unbelievable performance.

“I was at the 81 game,” Rock explained. “That was the most amazing game. He scored 81…he needed about 69. The Lakers were that bad at the time.

“Now that was unbelievable,” he added later. “You know what’s really funny? If they ever do a replay of this, they came to me on the sidelines…’Do you think Kobe is the best player in the game?’ I was like, ‘No, Dwyane Wade.’ I was hating on him so bad. I was hating on him so bad, almost like he heard it.”

When asked where the hate for Bryant stemmed from, Rock said bluntly: “You know what? I just took Shaq’s side, that’s all. That’s all it was. I was like, ‘I’m a Shaq guy.’ Either there’s Kobe people or there’s Shaq people.”

Rock went onto state that he’s finally starting to cheer for Bryant later in the 36-year-old’s career.

“I’ve been rooting against Kobe my whole life, but now I got to give it up to him. He’s been there,” the comedian said.

That doesn’t mean Rock thinks Bryant will ever surpass Michael Jordan—even when he overtakes him on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

“No he’s done. Unless he can find a way to play at 50 or something,” Rock said of Bryant. “Call Barry Bonds and get some of that BALCO in him. It’s a nice run. He had a nice run and he’s one of the best ever. Hey, I’m not going to pass Richard Pryor. I’m not going to lose sleep over it.”

Other hilarious moments during the clip came when Rock likened himself to Gregg Popovich for surrounding himself with veterans and explaining that people in bad basketball markets like New York and Detroit should definitely watch his new movie.

He also dropped this epic quote: “Kobe wants to be Michael so bad, he’s getting ready to marry Juanita. I saw him talking to Juanita the other day. I’m like, ‘Kobe, what you doing there?’”