During a Lakers-Magic game in 2010, Matt Barnes appeared to fake an inbound pass by thrusting the ball inches from Kobe Bryant's face. And Kobe appeared not to flinch.
The "no flinch" moment became a testament to Black Mamba's legendary intensity as well as a popular GIF.
It turns out it never really happened.
He wasnt standing in front of him when he did it my whole life is a lie pic.twitter.com/8pGF2IRAjQ
— Agent of NBA Chaos (@World_Wide_Wob) October 2, 2018
it’s over, man. Sorry. Barnes not even looking at him. pic.twitter.com/K0AYe6a6Wr
— Agent of NBA Chaos (@World_Wide_Wob) October 2, 2018
As you can see, the aerial view shows Kobe's face away from the ball
Kobe continues to insist he did something impressive that day.
Just talked to Kobe a couple minutes ago about this. He hadn't heard about it yet. He wasn't worried. At all. "You gotta remember I was swaying. He did it and I didn't balk." https://t.co/8nR2wHNIX4
— Chris Martin Palmer (@ChrisPalmerNBA) October 2, 2018
Well, he always has those 33,643 points, five NBA titles and two MVPs.