Kyrie Irving Seen Paying Tribute To Gigi And Kobe Bryant With Custom Footwear En Route To NBA Finals

The Dallas Mavericks suffered a minor hiccup by losing Game 4, but have managed to get the job done in Game 5 of the WCF. With tonight’s 124-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Luka Doncic and co. clinch a spot in the 2024 NBA Finals. Kyrie Irving also had a splendid performance to close the series out, however, he went viral on social media for his tribute to Gigi and Kobe Bryant.

Kyrie Irving was seen wearing custom slides with the words “Mamba Out” on them along with the numbers #8, #2, and #24. The tribute to Gigi and Kobe Bryant seemed heartfelt and the whole of social media lauded the Mavericks star for the same.

Kyrie elevated his performance during the Western Conference Finals and played a huge role in the Mavericks’ advancing to the Finals. Being the #1 option for the team on multiple occasions across the series, the shifty guard ultimately averaged 27 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game (per ESPN).

Kobe, Irving’s role model growing up, would’ve certainly been proud of the latter’s display. Having been a disciple of the Black Mamba’s, while he will be celebrating the success, Kai won’t be satisfied until he lifts the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Kobe Bryant motivated Kyrie Irving to win his first title

The Cleveland Cavaliers winning the 2016 title despite being down 1-3 in the Finals has to be one of the most impressive feats in the sport’s history. While LeBron James was undoubtedly the player largely responsible for the championship victory, Kyrie Irving also played a huge role. And it was Kobe Bryant who motivated Irving to perform spectacularly in that series against the Golden State Warriors.

Back in 2022, Irving revealed how Bryant gave him this extra motivation. During their conversation at the start of the 2015-2016 season, Kobe didn’t mince his words when claiming that Stephen Curry and co. would win the title. Hearing his role model back his rival hurt Irving. Hence, he was determined to prove Bryant wrong.

Kyrie said on a live stream, per BroBible, “He was like, ‘Man, I think Golden State is definitely going to win the championship this year,’” Irving recalled with a laugh. “Bro, could you imagine Kobe saying this? Bro, this is like my hero.

“So he says that to me. I looked at him, straight in his eye, and I said, ‘No, they’re not. What are you talking about?’ He said, ‘Nah man, they got a really good team this year. You guys match up well against them, but…’ I said, ‘They’re not f—ing winning this year, we are going to win this s–t. What are you talking about?”

For obvious and unfortunate reasons, Irving is unable to receive any words of advice from Bryant this time around. Hence, he’s seemingly keeping memories of Bryant close to him ahead of a tough series against the Boston Celtics.