The legend of Mark Pope is growing!
On Monday, a picture surfaced of Pope matched up one-on-one against legendary NBA star Kobe Bryant. The image had folks wondering what the outcome of the play was.
This morning, a user name zak123_2025 on X found video of the play.
Believe it or not, Pope shut Bryant down:
Had to jump through some hoops to get this. 10-25-2001 Preseason
Here's the sequence that takes place where that picture was taken. Pope BLOCKS Kobe and the announcer says "Pope knocks it down his throat"
Pretty awesome stuff! pic.twitter.com/RNRqIEFIlD
— Zak (@zak123_2025) January 21, 2025
Mark Pope vs Kobe Bryant pic.twitter.com/TYNu8Yg2VQ
— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) January 20, 2025
Something tells me Pope didn’t shut down Kobe many other times, if ever. Bryant, who tragically passed away in a helicopter crash in 2020, was one of the NBA’s greatest players of all-time. Pope averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds during his 6-year NBA career.
Rest in peace Kobe. The world misses you.
