Kobe Bryant Inspired Lakers’ NBA Championship Victory

The Lakers missed a chance to win the title in their special black "Mamba" jerseys made in his honor with a loss in game five Friday.

"This was for Kobe regardless of what jersey we had on," said the Lakers' Markieff Morris.

"We knew we had to do this for Kobe and Gigi and the rest of the Laker Nation. This was a special one."

Lakers guard Rajon Rondo, who also won a title with Boston in 2008, joined the Lakers in 2018 and was happy to have been able to learn from Bryant by playing against him.

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"Winning for Kobe has been in my mind for a while," Rondo said.

"To be able to compete with Kobe, understand and learn so much from him by watching his film and by studying him, it's definitely an honor.

"And to come full circle to win in his honor, his daughter's honor, unbelievable season that we've had. And to be able to prevail and stay focused and continue to get the job done, I know he's definitely smiling down on us." 

(Writer & Editor: JS/BB, Agence France-Presse)

Source: http://u.afp.com/3KDj