“Kobe Bryant told Devin Booker to ‘Be Legendary’”: Suns superstar eliminates LeBron James and the Lakers in Game 6 following a Kobe-esque performance

Kobe Bryant once told Devin Booker to be legendary and the Suns superstar delivered by dropping 47 points on the Lakers to eliminate them. 

LeBron James’s picture perfect record of 14-0 in advancing from the first round of the Playoffs to the second has officially been broken after having gone up against the 2nd seeded Phoenix Suns this postseason. The man of the hour and undoubtedly the man of the series would be Devin Booker, who dropped a season high 47 points to close out the defending champs. 

Devin Booker has always been under the label of ‘good stats, bad team’ for the majority of his career, criticized for being an empty stats guy. He has now proven that he can very well be the number one option on the offensive end of the floor for a team that has a legitimate shot at making a run to the NBA Finals.

Also read: “Michael Jordan must be chuckling somewhere”: Skip Bayless blasts LeBron James as the Lakers get knocked out of the playoffs after losing to Devin Booker and co

The 2x All-Star is one of the few young stars in the league today who had the privilege of matching up against Kobe Bryant in the twilight of his career, a matchup that meant more to Booker than most people now. After all, Devin Booker gotten Kobe’s motivational words towards him, tattooed on his body. 

Kobe Bryant encouraged Devin Booker to be legendary. 

Devin Booker is quoted as saying that Kobe Bryant was a superhero of sorts for him while he was growing up. The two shared a great bond once Booker made it to league as the Laker legend even gave him a pair of signed Kobes with the message ‘Be Legendary’ written on them. This is the same message that the 24 year old has gotten tattooed on himself. 

Fast-forward a few years later and D-Book has a put on his own Kobe-esque performance in a crucial closeout game on the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. Everything from the pull-up 3s to the fadeaways on the baseline, Booker’s game is eerily stylized to how Bryant himself would take shots. Booker would acknowledge Kobe in his post-game interview as well.

Devin Booker had Kobe Bryant in mind during his 47-point Game 6 performance. 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/C7VYPqIRCf

— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2021

Also read: “That Man Devin Booker Is Cold!”: Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson React To Devin Booker’s 47 Point Effort As Suns Eliminate LeBron James & The Lakers 4-2

Devin’s game has evolved a whole lot since he came into the league, a large part due to the fact that he trained with Kobe Bryant during the early years of his career. Booker claims to have learned the technique behind drawing cheeky fouls and his nifty footwork from the 2008 MVP himself. 

With Booker having become a superstar in these Playoffs, it’ll be interesting to see how well he matches up against the Nuggets and their depleted backcourt in the 2nd round of the Playoffs.