Kobe Bryant says he would have ‘smacked’ Rutgers coach Mike Rice

Kobe Bryant did not hesitate when asked how he would have reacted if a coach like Rutgers’ Mike Rice was being abusive and throwing basketballs at him during practice.

“I would have smacked the hell out of him, no question about it,” Bryant said in an interview for Jim Rome on Showtime, which airs Wednesday night at 9 Eastern and Pacific times.

“It probably wouldn’t have been the best way to react to it,” Bryant added, “but that’s probably how I would have reacted.”

Rome mentioned that when the video of Rice pushing and shoving his players surfaced last week, eventually leading to his firing, the All-Star guard tweeted, “That’s not coaching, that’s a power trip.”

Rome reminded Bryant that Rice was berating and intimidating players as young as 18. Would Bryant have “smacked” him when he was 18?

Bryant then reminded Rome that at that age he was in the NBA “going at it with Shaq.”

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