Check out this short clip from ESPN’s Sunday Conversation with Stephen A. Smith. The original date it aired was on 05/31/2008.

He sits down and talks with Kobe Bryant, the three-time world champion, on his rough summer in 2007 and how it feels to make it to the 2008 NBA Finals once again with the Los Angeles Lakers.

I’m not a big Kobe Bryant fan, but after watching this interview and seeing the passion behind his words, I think I gained a little more respect for Kobe as a person… He’s ALWAYS had my respect as an NBA player, just because he’s bad-ass when he’s on the court. Which is probably why he is constantly compared to Michael Jordan.