Kobe Bryant was a big reason that Matt Barnes signed with the Los Angeles Lakers last week, according to the Associated Press.

Barnes decided to join the Lakers after a barrage of texts from Bryant, who wanted the combative UCLA product by his side, rather than in his face as a tough defender for the past several years.

For the second season in-a-row, Kobe has reached out to hard-nosed defenders in hopes of having them join him in LA. Much like Ron Artest, Kobe was impressed that Barnes wasn’t scared of challenging Bryant when the Lakers and Magic faced off and felt that having him alongside him during another championship run would be beneficial to both parties.