Ball in the Family Podcast with Lonzo & Gelo Ball · Betr

Untold Lakers & Kobe Stories, with Larry Nance Jr. | Ball in the Family Ep.3

·52 min·3 clips

Mitch Kupchak told Nance to call Kobe Bryant after a tweet from high school resurfaced on draft night.

1. Ball in the Family Podcast with Lonzo & Gelo Ball centers this episode on Larry Nance Jr. and stories from the Lakers and Cleveland. 2. Lonzo Ball hosts Larry Nance Jr., who is his former NBA teammate and current teammate again, and that matters because both have shared the Lakers and Cavaliers. 3. The episode asks how Nance went from Wyoming and a few Division I offers to the Lakers, Kobe Bryant, and a return to Cleveland. 4. Nance says the NBA did not seem possible until midway through his junior year at the University of Wyoming. 5. He explains that Wyoming was one of only one or two Division I offers he had, so he developed at his own pace. 6. He says his junior year was the first time he saw his name on a mock draft. 7. He describes a matchup with Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 pick out of UNLV, as the first time he felt he could belong against NBA talent. 8. Nance says he realized he could hold his own when Bennett scored about 17 and he scored about 15. 9. He says that feeling changed his mindset and increased his hunger every day. 10. Nance recalls being drafted 27th by the Lakers and then learning a high school tweet about Kobe Bryant had resurfaced online. 11. Mitch Kupchak called him and told him to handle the issue with Kobe directly. 12. Nance says he texted Kobe from a pedicure appointment, apologized, and later received a reply saying it was "water under the bridge." 13. He says Kobe then told him, "Welcome to the family," which shaped their relationship from that point on. 14. Nance describes the Lakers locker room around that incident as quiet, with veterans like Lou, Will, and B-Bass handling the conversation in front of everyone. 15. He says the tension took a few days, maybe a week or two, to die down. 16. Nance says his favorite Lakers memory was the 2018 dunk contest, where he wore his father’s jersey and honored the 30-year gap since his dad’s contest. 17. He also describes Kobe’s 60-point final game as a performance that became impossible to stop once the scoring run reached the free-throw line. 18. The conversation moves with a loose interview rhythm, jumping from career origin stories to locker-room memory and rapid-fire basketball comparisons. 19. Listeners who like Lakers history, player development, and NBA locker-room stories will get the most from it. 20. Listeners looking for game analysis or a tightly structured sports interview may skip it.

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