In the eyes of New York Knicks fans, Kobe Bryant may have delivered one of his best assists on a day when he never took the court.
In the week that would have marked the Los Angeles Lakers great’s 46th birthday, Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson looked back on the life and career of the late Kobe Bryant in a special produced by the NBA and Nike. While many memories were shared from Bryant’s legendary NBA career…such as his 81-point game against Toronto in 2006…Brunson recalled a personal memory from Christmas Day 2014, when he attended the Lakers’ Christmas Day game against the Chicago Bulls.
“Kobe wasn’t playing, but he had a pair of Kobe 9s he wanted to wear, the red ‘Christmas’ Kobe 9s,” Brunson recalled. “He literally brought them out of the locker room in his hand and said, ‘Here you go.'”
At the time, Brunson was the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Illinois and on his way to winning his second title. That night, he watched former Bryant lieutenant Pau Gasol record a double-double and lead the local Bulls to a 113-93 victory.
After the game, Brunson went back to work as he and Stevenson High School had to win a holiday tournament. Although the rules dictated otherwise, Brunson not only had a gift, but a de facto new weapon.
“Everyone was like, ‘What are you going to do with those?’ I’m going to wear these to my next game. We’re the same size. I’m wearing them,” he said. “Our high school had a rule that we couldn’t wear anything other than the team colors. I completely broke that. We were green and gold. I wore red. But we won the holiday tournament. I wore those shoes. Yeah, that was a cool moment. He just came out and said, ‘Here you go.'”
That holiday win was the first of several tournament victories for Brunson: As a Villanova Wildcat, he later won two Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament titles at his future home, Madison Square Garden, and also captured two national championships.
Knicks fans can only hope that Brunson will soon add more trophies to the trophy case: A journey that literally began in Bryant’s shoes has resulted in one of the most realistic and promising Knicks seasons in quite some time, thanks in part to Brunson’s efforts at the top of the metropolitan rotation.
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