As Kobe Bryant plays out his 20th and final season with the Lakers, The Times has reached out to players, coaches and broadcasters for recollections about his career.
Caron Butler, a 13-year-pro, two-time All-Star and NBA champion, played one season with the Lakers and Bryant, in 2004-05.
This wasn’t an ordinary barbecue at Butler’s childhood home in Milwaukee.
Bryant, already a three-time NBA champion, was there.
(So were teammates Lamar Odom and Brian Grant, Butler said.)
“We had barbecue ribs, cabbage, everything,” Butler said, smiling.