In 2008, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals in heartbreaking fashion. Unsurprisingly, this became a significant turning point Bryant's career — to the extent that he used a Paul Pierce photograph as motivation moving forward.
Kobe is not one to forget, but as it turns out, this painful incident required a bit more remembering from his end.
After Kobe lost to the Celtics in 2008, Sue Bird saw him quietly cut out a picture from a newspaper of Paul Pierce celebrating.
Mamba put it in his pocket and said, "Motivation."
Two years later—down to the day—he got his revenge and beat the Celtics.
(via @Chiney321) pic.twitter.com/X7biwhoLAq
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 17, 2020
That's typical Kobe Bryant right there, and honestly, we wouldn't expect anything less. The five-time NBA champ is as dedicated and goal-oriented as they get, and this simple act is testament to this very fact.
The best part about this narrative is how Kobe and the Lakers extracted their revenge two years later. As fate would have it, LA and Boston would face off again at the same stage two seasons on. This time around, however, Bryant made sure that history would fall on his side.
Kobe, in perhaps his best performance in the NBA Finals throughout his career, willed the Lakers to an epic seven-game victory against Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and the rest of the Celtics. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and at that point, we're pretty sure that nobody in the entire world was more satisfied with the championship than Kobe himself.
The 2010 title turned out to be the fifth and final championship in Kobe's decorated career. The fact that he did it against the Lakers' fiercest rivals in the Celtics is certainly the cherry on top of the cake. The Black Mamba would not have wanted it any other way.
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