The one Isaiah Thomas has been sharing recently on Anderson Cooper’s CNN podcast is one of those stories. It involves one of the darkest moments of his career.
Thomas opened up about the moment Kobe Bryant reached out to him after the death of his younger sister Chyna, who was killed in a car accident on the eve of the 2017 playoffs. The 5-time NBA champ sent Thomas a touching message after the accident.
Isaiah Thomas Reveals Kobe Bryant’s Touching Message
“At the end of the text, he said, ‘If you are going to play, there are no excuses. And you’re going to be who you always been,'” Thomas recalled.
Isaiah Thomas was on the CNN Podcast All There Is with Anderson Cooper this week.
After the tragic passing of his younger sister, Chyna, which happened right before the playoffs, he got a long text from Kobe Bryant.
“At the end of the text, he said, ‘If you are going to play,… pic.twitter.com/z4Ghg4oYzv
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“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. That’s what I was doing.”
The context behind those words makes them hit even harder. Chyna Thomas passed away on April 15, 2017, the night before Game 1 of Boston’s opening round series against the Chicago Bulls.
What made the gesture even more meaningful was that Bryant did not stop at one text. He stayed in contact with Thomas throughout the entire playoff run, texting him before and after games, FaceTiming to break down film, and nicknaming him “Mighty IT” on social media.
Thomas emailed Bryant game clips after Boston fell into a 2-0 hole against Chicago, and the two connected for a full film session while Thomas was back home in Tacoma during a series break. The Celtics won six straight playoff games after Bryant first reached out.
Thomas averaged 28.5 points over those six games, and on what would have been Chyna’s 23rd birthday, he dropped 53 points in an overtime win over the Washington Wizards in the second round, one of the most emotionally charged individual performances in NBA playoff history.
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Bryant later confirmed he reached out after learning of Chyna’s passing and told ESPN at the time that he had no hesitation about helping a Celtic. “I love watching IT play,” Bryant said. “He goes out and competes every single night.”
That kind of character was exactly who Bryant was, and exactly what Thomas needed in one of the worst moments of his life.
