NBA Prediction: Will Kobe Byrant get booed or cheered in Boston?

“I know he’s going to be very professional when he’s out there”. (Dennis Johnson) was there, who I learned a lot from. I respected the franchise and history so much that I worked as hard as I could in the workout. “I want them to be able to see it”. All that changed in 2007 after Boston made several deals to acquire All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to go along with homegrown All-Star Paul Pierce.

Upon his pregame introduction, Celtics fans greeted Bryant with many cheers, as well as a few audible boos.

“2007, felt awesome”, he said.

Last year, it was on display against one of the game’s best players, LeBron James, in the Celtics’ first-round playoff series against the Cavaliers. He has resurrected “Linsanity” (in a way) and has been drawing more praises than criticism compared to his time with the Lakers. And walking across the TD Garden parquet for the last time is something Bryant will always remember.

“I was doing too much, particularly handling the ball”, Bryant said. While the Lakers-Celtics rivalry of the current generation didn’t have the longevity of the Magic-Bird era or the days of Jerry West and Bill Russell, it certainly had its own thrills with Kobe being right at the center of it all.

Then over a three-year stretch from 2008-10, the Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals twice.

However, in recent years, a Celtics-Lakers match isn’t as exciting to watch nowadays. That was when it was like, “Listen, I have to figure this leadership thing out by any means necessary”. Isaiah Thomas scored 21 points and Even Turner added 19 points to lead the Celtics. The C’s needed to win just one of two games to clinch their 18th championship, but game six took every bit of wind out of Boston’s sails.

“Nope. I put that on the shelf”, Bryant said. “But after all the years of being here and playing in this league and knowing how knowledgeable they are about the game of basketball, it didn’t surprise me”. And while he helped hold Roy Hibbert scoreless on the defensive end, the Celtics could have used some scoring from their starting big man. In the third quarter, he was replaced in the starting lineup by Kelly Olynyk, who also had a tough night (5 points). And because of classic Finals matchups, these two teams have one of the oldest sporting rivalries in history. That’s just how sports are. “We came in the locker room and we sat there and we were all just kind of like, ‘What the hell just happened?”

For now, he will try to enjoy his final game in the building that has housed so many memories in his career.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “This place is always special to me”.