“I was gonna kill him” – When Kobe called out Sasha Vujacic after near-collapse vs. Suns in Game 6 of 2010 WCF originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers were comfortably ahead in Game 6 of the 2010 West Finals, but a momentum-killing misstep by Sasha Vujacic opened the door for the Phoenix Suns to cut it to a one-possession game.
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While the Lakers ultimately prevailed, Bryant was not about to pass up a chance to voice his displeasure at his teammate.
“I was gonna kill him,” The Black Mamba said tongue-in-cheek when asked what he thought of Vujacic’s flagrant foul on Goran Dragic.
Sasha almost cost the Lakers the game
As courtside reporter Craig Sager noted, the Purple & Gold were in cruise control in Game 6. They were up by 17 at the start of the fourth quarter, but it became 99-96 with over two minutes left.
Vujacic’s foul appeared to ignite the Suns, especially Dragic. The Dragon scored eight in the final frame, second only to Amar’e Stoudemire, who had 12. His final bucket pushed Phoenix past the double-digit barrier, 91-82, and the dime to Amar’e Stoudemire with six minutes remaining made it 95-90.
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Sasha, meanwhile, did nothing positive of note. The Machine subbed in for Ron Artest at the tail end of the third quarter with the Lakers up by 18, 85-67. When Bryant took him out with 9:42 left, the score was 93-82. During that stretch, Vuajcic was responsible for a flagrant foul, an offensive foul, and a kickball violation.
It was obviously a big deal, but Vujacic later downplayed his spat with his fellow Slovenian.
“My countryman? Oh, the kid on the other team?” Vujacic said, referring to Dragic. “I don’t think I’m fighting my countryman. I’m playing good defense. You got to exploit the weaknesses of your opponent and I think that if that’s Nash, if that’s Grant Hill, if that’s Barbosa, whoever that is, you got to exploit their weaknesses. He’s still young and he’s learning, so a little bit of pressure helps.”
It was safe to say the ploy did not work. Dragic ended up playing his best game of the series to give the Suns a puncher’s chance.
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Meanwhile, Sasha feigned innocence and believed the flagrant foul was unwarranted.
“I don’t know why I got a technical foul to be honest with you,” Vujacic stated. “He pushed me, but I didn’t want to react … I’ve been involved in playoffs for a long time, I didn’t [push him], go check.”
Kobe took over
Even though the Suns made it a ballgame at the end of Game 6, the Lakers had the best closer in basketball. Bryant poured 11 points in the fourth, including two impossible shots over Grant Hill to seal the game. As sensational as his performance was, the L.A. icon was still his own harshest critic.
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“I did pretty good. I missed a couple of easy ones there to start in the middle of the fourth quarter, but I was able to collect myself and knock down some big shots,” Bryant told Sager.
Kobe was practically unstoppable throughout the six-game series, as Goran himself remembered. He played such a brilliant series that his least efficient shooting game was a near-triple-double in Game 5. While Bryant finished with 30/11/9 and four blocks, he missed 10 of his 17 shots in the second half and airballed the potential game-winner.
Still, even on that off-shooting night, Bryant was the constant. Whether scoring, playmaking, or simply holding teammates accountable, he never let up. Game 6 may have included a brief lapse, but Kobe made sure it didn’t turn into a collapse.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.