Donald Trump said he once stepped in to break up a physical confrontation involving late NBA star Kobe Bryant, confirming a long-circulating story that traces back to a 2020 book about the Los Angeles Lakers dynasty.
During an interview published on Friday with YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, Trump was asked whether he had ever been involved in a real fight. The president responded by recalling an incident in which he intervened while Bryant was arguing with another player.
“That was a long time ago. Yeah, well, I was breaking up a fight, which sometimes is more dangerous than being in a fight,” Trump said.
He added, “But I like Kobe. Kobe was having a hard time with somebody, and it worked out fine. But yeah, I broke it up — probably not a smart thing to do. Historically, it’s never good to break up fights.”
The story of the altercation was first publicly described in the 2020 book Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty by author Jeff Pearlman. According to the book, the incident took place during the 1998 NBA All-Star Weekend at the Grand Hyatt New York, which Trump owned at the time.
Pearlman reported that Bryant, then in his second NBA season with the Lakers, encountered veteran player Jayson Williams inside an elevator at the hotel. Williams allegedly believed Bryant had not shown him sufficient respect when greeting him and reacted angrily.
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The book states that Williams attempted to swing at Bryant during the confrontation. Trump then stepped in to separate the players, grabbing Williams and telling Bryant to leave the scene immediately.
Bryant died in a January 2020 helicopter crash in Southern California along with his daughter Gianna Bryant and seven other people.
Charles Oakley Questions His Involvement In Reported Elevator Confrontation
Former NBA forward Charles Oakley later addressed the story in comments to Yahoo Sports, saying he did not remember being in the elevator at the time but recalled hearing Jayson Williams recount the incident repeatedly.
According to Pearlman’s account, Oakley, who was then playing for the New York Knicks, was reportedly in the elevator when the confrontation happened. Oakley told Yahoo Sports he could not confirm that detail but remembered Williams discussing the episode over the years.
He said, “He had told it to some people that I was around. Jayson, he liked to be a story. He’s a storyteller. I told him, ‘Jayson, I mean, you 55, 57. You probably told that story 50 times.”
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Williams later spent parts of nine seasons in the NBA, including with the Brooklyn Nets franchise when it was based in New Jersey. The alleged confrontation remained largely anecdotal until Pearlman documented it in his book chronicling the late 1990s Lakers era.
