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Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Did you ever see Kobe lose his temper in practice or in games? What was that like? Earl Clark: I mean, every day we competed in practice, you know? I was on the White Team with me, [Devin] Ebanks, Jordan Hill… and they are coming off a back-to-back [NBA Championship] but we didn’t care about that shit, we’re trying to get some minutes so, we’re going at them! And you know of course Kobe’s gonna go hard EVERY TIME! But it’s a few guys that are tired and tend to take days off. So one time in practice we beat them a few games and we’re talkin’ smack, you know what I’m sayin’? And he just flipped, bro! He ended practice, flipped the table and told everybody on his team, “We gotta tighten up! We can’t get better like this!” and he just left, you know what I’m sayin’? But it’s a LOT of times when he would just blow up, flip the table and just leave and practice is over, you know what I’m sayin’? That’s the thing that people get misunderstood about Kobe too is like that I’ve never been around Kobe where he’s been like, a super jerk or talk down to his teammates. What he doesn’t like is soft guys. So if you’re not doing your job and he gets on you and you shy away and you curl up, he’s not really going to trust you in basketball games, you know what I’m sayin’? He wants to see who the dogs are so when it’s time to win and go out there and fight, he knows who can be out there with him.
Gary Washburn: Stephen Curry just said he thought he was going to the #Knicks with the eighth pick in 2009, so he said he didn't think much or even consider Golden State when the #Warriors took him seventh. New York eventually drafted Jordan Hill eighth.
Chandler Parsons: 'Kobe Bryant paid me a $22,000 club bill... this dude was cool as f---'
Chandler Parsons story on Kobe Bryant: So my rookie year we're playing in Staples Center. Kevin McHale pulls me aside and tells me ‘you're gonna see crazy people, you're gonna see celebrities there and Kobe is gonna try and bust your ass, like he's gonna be offended you're guarding him.’ First of all, I'm just looking at the court side. My head’s on a swivel, I've never seen this before, right? I'm like, goddamn, this is great. Denzel Washington is there, this chick is there... I'm already distracted. And of course I'm starting on Kobe. A little side note: Jordan Hill that year had got traded from Houston to LA. So the fourth quarter comes around and Kobe looks at me and he's like, ‘are you guys staying the night tonight?’ And I'm like, making sure McHale is not looking at me and I'm like ‘yeah, what up? We’re staying.’ He goes, ‘I'll set you up. I'll get your number from Hill if you want to go out tonight’. McHale is over there grilling me like ‘stop talking to this motherf-----’. So he ends up going off, he scores like 40 that game and we lose. After the game we’re going to have dinner at the Katsuya LA Live. We’re with all the OGs, right? We're with Marcus Camby and they're all taking me out. I get a text that goes ‘You're all set at Supper Club - Mamba’. And I'm like, looking around like ‘alright, who's f------ with me?’ Like, no way. Courtney Lee was my guy and I'm like, showing him like, is this real? So I write him back. I'm like, are you coming? And he’s like ‘no, I can't make it but my guy will hit you up’. Guy texts me ‘Hey, you’re set up, let me know what you need at Supper Club’, whatever.
Chandler Parsons: So at this point, I'm like, guys, I got you. Kobe’s my guy. He set it up. Let's go! JB Bickerstaff is there. I'm bringing coaches. I'm bringing trainers. This is ‘I got it’. And we have a blast, right? We have the craziest night ever. Supper Club was the club where the tables were beds. It was awesome. It was nuts. Then 2 AM rolls around. I'm with these guys that made hundreds of millions of dollars and this waitress beelines right to me with the check. And I'm like, ‘oh shit!’... She's bringing me this bill for God knows how much and I'm like, oh man. I open it and it's like $22,000 and now at this point I'm like, physically sick. I can't do this because the card’s gonna bounce! I'll never forget it, this chick looks at me, hands me a pen and says ‘sign for Mr. Bryant’. And I'm like, what?! A made a video of the whole thing, I’m so excited. I signed ‘Kobe Bryant’ on a $22,000 club bill… This dude was cool as f—.
But as Steph blew up, and the Warriors ended up with the No. 7 pick, he just didn't think Curry would be available. Their board was 1. Blake Griffin, 2. Steph Curry. He could've been lying to me, but he said that to me and I think (SF Chronicle beat writer) Rusty Simmons. They were expecting to land Jordan Hill. Riley and Nelson even flew to Memphis to talk to Monta Ellis, who was unhappy, and told him—according to what my sources told me—that they got on the same page with Monta, including that he would be the point guard.
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One player the Hornets have shown interest in, a source said, is Jordan Hill. Hill was waived by Minnesota at the end of June after appearing in only seven games for the team last season. The previous season, Hill averaged 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 20.7 minutes with Indiana. Hill played for the Lakers in 2012-13, when Hornets coach Steve Clifford was an assistant for L.A.
Darren Wolfson: Important distinction on Jordan Hill's now filed contract: 2017-2018 is non-guaranteed. @Eric Pincus first to be all over it. #twolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed forward/center Jordan Hill. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.
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Adrian Wojnarowski: Free agent center Jordan Hill has agreed to a two-year, $8M deal with Minnesota, league source tells @The Vertical.
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