Kevin Durant once received sage advice from a Lakers legend, and didn’t even divulge that the meeting between the two players took place — until now, that is.
Durant revealed on Saturday that he had dinner with Kobe Bryant in Oklahoma City during his final season in the league, and added that the two discussed basketball, life and other topics, in a video posted by Melissa Rohlin of the Bay Area News Group.
“I had dinner with him his last year, in OKC, he came and we had dinner together,” Durant said. “The stuff we was talking about, just next level as far as what he wanted to do when he was done playing, his vision as a businessman, how he wanted to leave his mark as a basketball ambassador, it was just so much we talked about and made me appreciate his intelligent mind.”
Durant was then asked about what he learned from the conversation with Bryant, and had this to say:
“Always learn and grow,” he said. “Always be a sponge and be curious, whether it’s about the game, off the court, on the court. Just be curious and always grow, always want to grow as a man, as a person, as a player. It’s pretty easy to see that when you’re meeting Kobe.”
Kevin Durant on what he and Kobe Bryant discussed at dinner pic.twitter.com/J6EUQbSvXG
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) December 16, 2017
It’s interesting that Bryant was so candid with a player he once said couldn’t “sit at my lunch table.” Durant must have earned Kobe’s respect, because not only did they sit and eat together, but they also had dinner, not lunch.
Props to Durant and Bryant for keeping this secret dinner under wraps for so long. The Lakers are set to retire both No. 8 and No. 24 during halftime of Monday’s game against the Warriors at Staples Center, so the two stars likely decided that it was time to announce that the meeting took place.
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