An addendum, from another Redditer
I actually have some similar stories. My father was part of the Lakers S&C team from 1993-2001 or 2002.
He once said he had to stay at the practice facility helping a player rehabbing from an injury well into the night. An assistant coach Bill Bertka was given the assignment of shutting Kobe down before/after practices because there was concern he was overdoing it and would break down. After they found Kobe coming back to the facility after hours several times on his own, Bill made him give back his key. There was apparently quite the rift between management and Kobe regarding his practice habits and Kobe felt like he wasn't valued. He felt somewhat like he was just a body to them and that they'd lose interest in him if he was hurt. At one point he said something to Jeanie about "if they cant handle me at my worst, they dont deserve me at my best". It got back to Jerry West and there was a sit down to say the least.
Back to the story. My old man is at the facility rehabbing and around 1am Kobe walked down the hall past the training rooms toward the practice court. When he noticed my dad and the player he said "yall didnt see Edited. Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline." and my dad said Kobe was still at the facility when they left at 230 am. The next day my dad asked Kobe how he got in and Kobe laughed and said "i got my ways". A couple of nights later my dad noticed a sock wedged in between one of the entrances to the building propping the door open. My dad never ratted. Kobe could be proppin with socks to this day. One of my favorites.