Kobe Bryant’s final visit to the TD Garden on Wednesday was quite an event for the future Hall of Famer. The Celtics crowd actually cheered for their one-time rival like he was one of their own before and during the game, and then the team he lost to in the 2008 Finals and beat in the 2010 Finals honored him with a piece of their floor. Kobe’s young Lakers even pulled off a surprise road win.
But before the game, Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas asked for a brief meeting with Bryant where Thomas was hoping just to be able to say hi and perhaps have a jersey signed. Instead, Bryant sat down with Thomas for a 20-minute meeting, which Thomas described as the “best talk I’ve ever had.” During their meeting, Kobe shared some wisdom with the 26-year-old Thomas about how to avoid distractions. Here’s more by way of the Boston Globe
“He told me this story about how a lion seeks food, whatever he’s gonna kill and eat,” Thomas said. “And you know how many bugs are on the lion’s eyes and gnats on his body? He’s so locked in on that zebra that he doesn’t get distracted by anything else. He said if you get distracted by little things, then you’re not as locked in as you think you are. He said for me to be a lion, and that’s gonna stick with me the rest of my life.”
In addition, Kobe also told Thomas to call him if he wanted to know how to defend a player because “I know how to defend everyone.”
Although Bryant and Thomas are very different players (plus, there’s a solid eight or nine inch height differential between them), being able to call up a player like Kobe for advise is an invaluable asset for the Celtics’ scoring guard.
It’s probably a good thing for Thomas the Lakers won their Finals rematch against Boston six years ago. If they hadn’t, Kobe would probably still hate the Celtics, especially after we heard he was forcing himself to listen to Journey every day.
