The Los Angeles Lakers won their first title in 12 years back in 2000 against the Indiana Pacers, led by a young Kobe Bryant among others. Tyronn Lue, the savvy backup point guard and future NBA head coach, shared a story on Bryant's surprising and prophetic guarantee during the series recently.
Even after his tragic death, Bryant continues to inspire. Stephen Curry revealed his favorite Kobe moments recently. An awesome Kobe Bryant tribute took place at Lakers night hosted by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Recently, Lue took time out to share a timeless tale of Bryant's domination in Game 4 against the Pacers. With Shaquille O'Neal fouled out, Bryant took it upon himself to put the Lakers on his back.
Things didn't go so well early on, but Bryant stayed the course. Eventually, this would be the game that NBA historians, including Lue himself, would look back on and say, “that was when Kobe became Kobe.”
Lue revealed Kobe's prophetic four-word guarantee in this video interview:
"Shaq fouled out so everybody kind of panicked… He came out and I think he might've scored 12 straight. Then he hit that big shot and he's like, 'Relax. I got this.'
Tyronn Lue on Kobe Bryant in Game 4 of the 2000 NBA Finals.
(via @shobasketball)pic.twitter.com/QfKWztTkn2
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 28, 2023
Phil Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant's Lakers would never be the same again after that series. Bryant averaged 28.5 points per game against Indiana, just .2 points off of ‘The Big Aristotle' and his average for the series. Lue played 12.3 minutes per game during the series while spending much of the it on the bench as a second unit player.
His experience watching some of the greatest players of all-time would later prove invaluable in his coaching career as Lue went on to coach LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first-ever NBA championship.
With the 2023 NBA season just a few months away, James himself is back in the gym preparing. Whether or not the 2023 Lakers can get back to their title winning ways remains to be seen. For now, fans are enjoying Lue's history lessons on Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest to ever lace up the sneakers for the Western Conference's premier franchise.
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