Kobe Bryant greeted cheers, then with boos in last game in Boston

Bryant’s final game in Boston amounted to 15 points (5-of-18 shooting), 11 rebounds and three assists. So after Jordan Clarkson softened them up with 24 points, Kobe scored nine in the second half of the fourth quarter, including the dagger that sealed the Lakers’ win.

Kobe Bryant says his passion for winning was shaped in part by the snub he received from the team that drafted him into the National Basketball Association (NBA) back in 1996. He stopped and exchanged hugs with Boston owner Wyc Grousbeck and his family and then did a television interview in the corner before making his way to the locker room amid more roars. “Understanding Boston’s history, the players, many different players, championships won, this place is always special to me”. “She was crying, she was mad”.

“The Celtics have done so much for me”, said Bass, who signed a two-year deal last summer with the Lakers.

“Nope. I put that on the shelf”, Bryant said.

“That’s the kind of profound impact that this building has had”. I wanted them to be able to see this and experience this.

Mixed emotions, confusing crowd reactions, and good life lessons for my children.

But as soon as Cowens said they did not want him, Bryant said, “Then I was like, ‘Oh, all right.’ I quickly transitioned from smiley kid to killer instinct”.

But there were also thousands of Lakers fans at TD Garden, and the latter chants were led by them. But as the game pushed on, something unexpected happened: The lowly Lakers took control. “It felt great to get booed”.

During the game, however, those cheers turned to boos whenever he got the ball. Bryant leads in points with 17.3 and in assists with 3.4 assists per game.

After Bryant missed a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper, Clarkson performed a Bryant-like pump fake on Boston guard Isaiah Thomas before sinking a jumper. “That was the turning point”. “I’ve always loved it. It’s a little weird, isn’t it?” The players have been great. The Bulls have strung together some quality play since Christmas and maybe, just maybe, they are starting to show the potential we saw on paper. Still, in the moments when Bryant made a vintage move and converted a bucket, like when he spun around Avery Bradley for a dunk in the third quarter, there were again loud cheers. The Garden taunted him with endless loops of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin” and the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston amid the Lakers’ Game 6 series-clinching loss to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals”.

“I remember having to make a decision because the Spurs were such a fundamentally sound team and we had a reputation of being more flash than substance”, Bryant said. I can’t go through this. Noel might be back at power forward against the Lakers after rookie center Jahlil Okafor returned from a two-game absence and had 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench against the Kings.ABOUT THE LAKERS (6-27): Bryant has scored in double digits in each of his past 12 games but his shooting has suffered in the last two.