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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Tony Gaffney \"never got to play offense\" while being Kobe Bryant's one-on-one workout partner, Gaffney told Basketball Insiders.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gaffney, who went undrafted&amp;nbsp;in 2009, played for the Lakers during summer league and joined the defending champions for training camp. While he was ultimately cut before the season started, Gaffney said he played countless games against Bryant.\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWe\u2019re gonna start playing one-on-one,\u201D Bryant told Gaffney, according to the forward. \u201CI heard you\u2019re a defensive lockdown player. So, lock me down.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CObviously easier said than done,\u201D Gaffney said with a laugh. \u201CBut for about three weeks in a row, I was forced to show up hours before practice to play one-on-one against Kobe.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bryant would invent various sets of rules where he could only dribble and score with his weak hand; some days he could only score inside the paint, others only from outside.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201COh, and I never got to play offense,\u201D Gaffney said.\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;GALLERY: Rare Photos of Kobe Bryant&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gaffney also said Bryant regularly arrived to practice nearly five hours early to hone his game. After being released by the Lakers, Gaffney signed with the Boston Celtics and met Bryant's Lakers&amp;nbsp;in the 2010 Finals.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n\u201CWalking through the tunnel before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which of course happened to be at Staples Center against the Lakers, I hear from behind some choice words; I turn around and it was Kobe,\u201D Gaffney said. \u201CTo put it nicely, he called me a traitor. The next thing I know he comes over, gives me a big hug and said Boston is where I belong.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gaffney recently signed a contract in Israel and has also played in Turkey, Germany and Spain.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bryant is entering his 19th season with the Lakers&amp;nbsp;after playing in just six games last season. He is 592 points behind Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Lakers open the regular season Oct. 28 against the Houston Rockets.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;\u200B\u200B&lt;strong&gt;WOO: The most anticipated NBA debuts&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;- Paul Palladino&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nba/2014/10/15/los-angeles-lakers-kobe-bryant-work-ethic>