Kobe vs. Gathright
April 11, 2008
A friend just pointed me to this video of Kobe Bryant jumping really high right by a moving car.
I say jumping right by a moving car, not over, because at 0:33 into the clip, it looks like the car is passing just to the side of Kobe, so while still dangerous, not nearly as dangerous as Kobe jumping directly over the car. That’s still impressive. I’d say that Kobe probably could jump over a car moving right at him if he had to — it’s way too stupid of a risk to take though.
Kobe was just trying to one-up Royals outfielder Joey Gathright, who famously jumped over a parked car.
He also jumped over a pitcher in a spring training game this year, and MLB took down the video on YouTube. Here’s a link to the page where they have it (click on “Gathright goes airborne”)
UPDATE: I’m obviously not the first blogger to find the Kobe video. Ballhype has the full list.
Gilbert
Ben
April 12, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Good call on the Kobe trick. At first I thought it was just a bit of special effects, but I think you’re right– he just jumped next to it. Still not a very smart stunt to try.
April 16, 2008 at 12:26 am
Ryan, the first time I saw the video, I was tricked too — it looked real. But the next few times I watched it, I caught the trick.
I’d say that if Kobe really wanted to perform the feat for real, he’d have a decent chance at clearing the car. But it’s way too risky to even try.