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Hollywood Actor O’Shea Jackson on Kobe Bryant: “I’ll Always Hold Dear That the First Phone Call With My Hero Was Also the Last”

Published 12/14/2021, 11:30 AM EST

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Kobe Bryant is widely regarded as one of the best players of all time. He left behind a long-lasting legacy and is an inspiration to many young players trying to make it to professional basketball. But he didn’t just inspire youngsters, and many current celebrities have been inspired by his work ethic and ‘never give up’ attitude.

Kobe spent his entire career with Los Angeles Lakers and won five championships in the process. There are several examples of his greatness, both on and off the court. However, Kobe was more respected for his loyalty over the years.

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His ‘Mamba Mentality’ has inspired people from various walks of life and not just sports. American actor and rapper O’Shea Jackson Jr. recently narrated a story of his life-changing conversation with Kobe Bryant on ‘The Ellen Show’.

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O’Shea Jackson Jr. opens up on messaging Kobe Bryant for life advice

American actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. recently appeared on ‘The Ellen Show’ and talked about drunk texting Kobe Bryant for life advice.

“Kobe followed me on Twitter and I’m gonna DM Kobe. So I’m drunk and I hit up Kobe and I’m like, ‘Listen, man, I just want to know how do you keep going,” Jackson Jr. said on ‘The Ellen Show‘.

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“He gave me his number,” he added.

It speaks a lot about Kobe as he reached out to someone he’s not close friends with. O’Shea Jackson Jr. asked Kobe for any book, movie, or quote. However, to his surprise, Kobe shared his personal number with him. This is what makes Kobe different from others. The American actor continued to narrate the story.

O’Shea Jackson Jr. reveals his life-changing conversation with Kobe, dedicates performance in latest series to Kobe

O’Shea added that days went by and he didn’t get any response from Kobe. However, to his surprise, he received a call from Kobe and they talked for around 25 mins while he was in a cab.

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“I was coming back from a table read. The phone rang, and it says GOAT. And he talked to me for 25 minutes. We talked about our parents, talked about work ethic, not feeling content, not feeling like he’s done enough, even still. He had just won the Academy award, he still had that feeling. And it was something that I’ll always hold dear that the first phone call with my hero was also the last.” That’s something that I take to heart. So my performance in ‘Swagger’ is dedicated to Kobe Bryant.” O’Shea said.

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The 30-year-old actor/rapper even revealed that his performance in his latest show ‘Swagger‘ is dedicated to Kobe. Swagger is a sports drama TV series based on the NBA and basketball. In fact, Kevin Durant is one of the executive producers of the series. It has 10 episodes, with the first one released in later October. The last episode will be released on the 17th of this month.

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Written by:

Abhishek Singh

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Abhishek is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports with over two years of journalistic experience with Chase Your Sport and Dribl. A Football Management graduate, he has previously interned in the Indian Super League, I-League and the AFC Champions League. In addition to being a Michael Jordan fan, Abhishek is an ardent Steph Curry and Warriors guy, and believes they have a few more championships in store before the former retires.
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