Kobe Bryant Once Consoled Star Guard After Major Injury

Former All-Rookie First Team Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings, a Compton native, was an exciting young prospect when he was drafted with the tenth overall pick in 2009. Jennings had opted to forego college, and had gone pro with Italian club Lottomatica Roma for 2008-09 before declaring for the draft.

Jennings, a crafty-if-undersized lead guard, enjoyed an encouraging rookie season in 2009-10, averaging 15.5 points on .371/.374/.817 shooting splits, 5.7 assists, and 3.4 rebounds a night and was named to that year's All-Rookie First Team.

During an interview with Sam Yip of HoopsHype, Jennings revealed that the player he considered his personal Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.) was Hall of Fame Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant, an 18-time All-Star and 15-time All-NBA Team honoree.

“Definitely Kobe,” Jennings told Yip. “Growing up in L.A. and seeing him win five titles, it just makes sense. People seem to forget he was the most dominant player at his peak during the late 2000s. And he’s got a legacy of work ethic and drive that will live forever.”

Jennings left Milwaukee when he agreed to a three-year, $25 million deal in a sign-and-trade that wound up sending eventual three-time All-Star Khris Middleton to the Bucks — plus point guard Brandon Knight and 7-foot center Viacheslav Kravtsov. He was playing some high-level basketball on a chippy Pistons squad when he ruptured his left Achilles tendon, undergoing surgery to amend the issue. He logged averages of 15.4 points, 6.6 dimes and 1.1 swipes in his 41 healthy matchups. Jennings would never be the same as a player.

"Well, I tore my Achilles when I was with Detroit, so that was about 10 years ago. It definitely changed how I played and impacted me, right when I felt like I was playing the best basketball of my career too," Jennings said. "Some of the players you see today that have come back and been impactful like KD [Kevin Durant] and Klay [Thompson] are taller and are shooters, so maybe it’s easier for guys like that to adapt their game to still be effective. But that rehab is no joke too – so it’s a credit to how much they’ve put in to even come back at all. For smaller guards who rely on their speed, I’d say it’s pretty tough to bounce back today still. I definitely feel like it depends on the type of player you are when you’re dealing with that serious of an injury."

Bryant, who had torn his Achilles in 2013 and never reached the same All-NBA level himself, reached out to Jennings upon hearing the news of his ailment.

“When I tore my Achilles, he texted me and gave me some encouragement on how to deal with it," Jennings said. "He wasn’t playing at that time and was coming back from a shoulder injury himself. You could tell he just always cared about the people in the basketball community and was trying to help. I remember he took a picture with my son after a game too, so that was dope, and it’s a memory that my son just really appreciates having now.”

The 6-foot guard was flipped to the Orlando Magic the subsequent season, then signed a free agent deal with the New York Knicks. He joined the Washington Wizards for that club's best season in over a decade, serving as John Wall's primary backup. Jennings next suited up for Chinese Basketball Association squad the Shanxi Brave Dragons, averaging 27.8 points, 6.8 dimes, 5.1 boards and 2.7 steals in his 13 contests with the club. He returned to the Bucks for the 2017-18 season, and was cut ahead of 2018-19. He most recently played for Russian squad Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2018.