Jamie Foxx claims he shamed Kobe Bryant into getting his fifth Championship ring

Jamie Foxx is more than just an actor; he is a bona fide storyteller. The man can recount anecdotes and experiences from his life as if he were Aesop.  It's always a journey and there's always a life lesson buried somewhere. That’s probably why the Oscar winner has, um, you know, an Oscar. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (weeknights 11:35ET on CTV2) this week, he put his emphatic storytelling skills to good use when recounting one of his first run-ins with late basketball champion Kobe Bryant. Oh yeah, and he claims his trash talk is what motivated the five-time NBA champ to his fifth victory in 2010. *Curious eyes emoji*“Kobe and I had this incredible cantankerous relationship, because we would always go at each other,” he told Jimmy Fallon. “I remember he came to see my show in L.A., and my whole group, my whole band was Lakers fans. Now obviously, I’m from Texas, I was a Maverick fan. And Kobe heard, ‘Mavericks? Mavericks! I thought you was a winner.’" "So we start going at each other, right? We going back and forth. And we was talking about players, and he was saying, ‘Oh they can’t handle me.’ He was saying the Celtics couldn’t handle him. And then I said, ‘Lebron James?’” Foxx continued, doing an appalled Kobe impression like no other.Foxx explained that Kobe was so insulted (whether faux insulted or real insulted is left for interpretation), he didn't stay for the show and instead left immediately to go work out. It was while texting the NBA champ later that Foxx went off.“I said, ‘You ain’t gonna be ready for the season... You ain’t gonna make it!’" Jamie said. "And he text me back, he says, ‘Do you have some water?’ and I said, ‘Huh?’  He says, ‘You’re gonna need it, cause you’re gonna choke on my fifth ring.’”

 

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Rest in Power! ?

A post shared by Jamie Foxx (@iamjamiefoxx) on Jan 26, 2020 at 5:17pm PST

While Kobe's history is all at once heroic, tragic and complex, Foxx's memories of the man are certainly entertaining. That story is just one of the reasons Foxx calls himself “The Black Forrest Gump,” (i.e. he just so happens to be around celebs right as they're skyrocketing into stardom).[video_embed id='-1']RELATED: Jamie Foxx admits he used to 'stalk' celebrities [/video_embed]“It’s true, I’m always there at places when things go down,” Foxx exclaimed, and then proceeded to tell a story about a party he hosted in the early 2000s that just so happened to have a ton of famous 90s and 2000s faces—Puff Daddy, Missy Elliott, Andy Dick, Michael Bay—and then in the corner was a little-known rapper who would go on to become hip hop royalty. “It was Jay-Z!,” he shared, before launching into a wobbly-voiced impression of Beyoncé's other half that was, of course, dead-on.Even though Foxx is already an R&B singer and comedian on top of being an award-winning actor, he should consider releasing a storytelling album, because we would pay good money just to hear him recount stories from his incredible life.Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon weeknights at 11:35ET on CTV2.[video_embed id='2007720']BEFORE YOU GO: Why there needs to be more context in the coverage of Kanye West [/video_embed]