When any player imbibes that Mamba Mentality, know that they’re getting some of the Jordan mindset too. A good example of that is Isaiah Thomas. The former Boston Celtics star admitted he owed a lot of his career to Kobe Bryant. The same guy who served a ruthless ‘welcome to the NBA’ moment. But their friendship went beyond competition and Thomas credits Kobe as his mentor. Incidentally, Bryant credited his big brother Michael Jordan for those same lessons.

Very recently, IT was on the Knuckleheads podcast where he narrated how he imbibed the Mamba Mentality. “Every night, I knew I was getting 30 [points]. I knew it cuz I just figured it out. I figured the game out inside and out. I watched film every day. I prepared on some Kobe sh*t. Like I really did.”

Along with watching Bryant’s games, it was a fair degree of Bryant himself who guided him. “And he was able to mentor me and really mold me all year. I used to call Kobe at night. We used to watch film, he used to really take his time and watch film with me. My skills were always there, but my mental just took it to a different level,” Mighty IT said on the podcast. This is not a new disclosure. Thomas has always looked up to Bryant.

When he first came into the NBA as a Sacramento Kings rookie in 2011, he was given the mountainous task of guarding the Lakers star. No other player was allowed to back Thomas because that would result in a turnover. So in his very first game against the Lakers, Bryant was merciless on IT.

A couple of years ago, Thomas recalled on All The Smoke podcast, “The first shot he hit, I’m sprinting down the court just laughing like, ‘Damn, I’m here.’ It was the first time in my life where someone scored on me and I was smiling and happy about it because that was my favorite player.”

Thomas’ defensive play was for nothing. Bryant scored a game-high 29 points on him. But the Kings won the game 100-91. As far as Welcome to the NBA moments go, Bryant actually went easy on Thomas. He could’ve been as merciless as the silent assassin who taught him the game.

Kobe Bryant credits Michael Jordan for making him better

Bryant said it himself on The Last Dance. “What you get from me is from him. I wouldn’t get five championships here without him because he guided me so much and gave me such great advice.” The ‘him’ he refers to is Michael Jordan.

The Chicago Bulls legend was starting with his second three-peat when Bryant came into the league. He recognized Kobe’s potential, took him under his wing, and mentored him.

Not many rookies could boast that as Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning, Walt Williams, and others got their welcome to the NBA moment from Jordan. And no, they weren’t smiling in that embarrassment like IT did. Jordan was not very kind on trash-talking rookies but it left an impression that defined their careers.

Guarding someone like Jordan and Bryant made several athletes better, even if embarrassed in a game or two. It just proves that Bryant continued MJ’s influence for generations.