Isaiah Thomas on how Kobe reached out after sister passed before Boston Celtics playoffs
The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers transcends eras, but the brotherhood of the NBA transcends even that. And we saw as much after the tragic passing of the sister of Celtics fan favorite Isaiah Thomas, Chyna, who lost her life in a car accident just as Thomas was about to kick off his last playoff run with Boston. IT opened up about how Lakers legend Kobe Bryant reached out to him once the news had broken with the 2017 postseason looming in a recent interview with Anderson Cooper on the semi-eponymous CNN Podcast "All There Is with Anderson Cooper.
" "It was like the most numb moments I've ever had," he recalled. "I wanted to go be with my family to try to help them out, but I remember talking to my dad that night and he's like, ‘You know what your sister would want you to do. She would want you to play.
And you coming home isn't going to do anything right now. ’" "So many people were texting and reaching out to me," he added. "Kobe Bryant sent me a long text, condolences.
'Sorry to hear the news. ' But at the end of the text, he said, 'If you are going to play, there's no excuses. And you're going to be who you always been.
'" "Kobe Bryant is my favorite player ever. So to see him reach out to me and say, if you are going to play, you go out there and be who you are, because that's what your sister would want. There was no other way around it.