What Michael Jordan told Kobe Bryant after the Celtics won the 2008 NBA title
"You gotta figure it out."
Ten years ago, the Boston Celtics overcame a 24-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals.
#10YearsAgo ☘️ 6/12/2008 The Celtics storm back from a 24-point deficit to take a 3-1 series lead over the Lakers in the @NBA finals. @paulpierce34: 20 pts@KGArea21: 16 pts, 11 rbs
Allen: 19 pts, 9 rbs
Posey: 18 pts pic.twitter.com/LSsMVGqFlR— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 12, 2018
Although Kobe Bryant and the Lakers bounced back to win Game 5, Boston’s Big Three overpowered L.A. in Game 6 to clinch the franchise’s first championship in over two decades. Bryant — who averaged 25.7 points per game that series — turned to NBA legend Michael Jordan for guidance following the loss.
“Michael gave me some really good advice after the ’08 Finals,” Bryant recently told Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck and a panel of fellow retired NBA stars, including Paul Pierce. “[He said], ‘You got all the tools. You gotta figure out how to get these guys to that next level to win that championship.'”
Bryant would get another chance in 2009, when he took home his fourth NBA title, and yet another in 2010, when the Celtics and Lakers met for a rematch. Boston’s starting lineup of Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins hadn’t changed since the two teams last played for the championship.
Bryant called them the league’s “first superteam.” After he griped about Boston’s “stacked” talent to Jordan, Bryant said the six-time champion reiterated what he had told him after losing the series in 2008.
“[Michael] kind of heard me lament about it,” Bryant said. “He just goes, ‘Yeah, well, it is what it is. You gotta figure it out. There’s no other alternative.'”
Sure enough, Bryant did. The Lakers topped the Celtics in seven games to win the franchise’s 16th championship.
