BOSTON -- Shedding light on his much-publicized breakfast with Rajon Rondo, Kobe Bryant finally revealed Friday exactly what it was all about.
"It was delicious," he said after the Lakers' shootaround ahead of Friday night's game against the Celtics.
So America can rest easy that these two headstrong, like-minded rivals have at least one thing in common: their taste for Boston's wide range of dining options.
Someday, they might have a lot more to talk about.
Bryant said his meeting with Rondo Thursday was all about basketball and reminiscing about the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, which for them reached its apex from 2008-10. Rondo's Celtics, which then belonged to Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, hammered the Lakers by 38 points in the deciding Game 6 of the '08 Finals. Two years later Bryant's Lakers got their revenge, beating the Celtics in seven games.
Asked what stands out about a rivalry that has lost its luster with both franchises struggling, Bryant said, "Losing Game 6. That will always sit with me."
"Just how aggressive that they were that series, that was a big turning point for us," he said. "It launched us. It propelled us to win back-to-back championships because we understood the aggressiveness that we needed to play with."
On Friday night, the 6-11 Celtics hammered the 5-15 Lakers 113-96, with Rondo playing out the final year of his contract and Bryant seeking another star teammate to help the Lakers return to contention before it's too late for him. Bryant, 36 and in his 19th season, has one year left on the two-year, $48.5 million extension he signed with the Lakers in 2013.
"I haven't thought about having any future teammates," Bryant said.
Teammates? What teammates? The Lakers recorded only 14 assists Friday night, two fewer than Rondo, who also had 12 points, eight rebounds and only one turnover. Afterward, Lakers coach Byron Scott cited "lack of intensity," and said, "The effort wasn't there." Scott said he's strongly considering multiple changes to the starting lineup before the Lakers suit up at home Sunday against New Orleans.
"I'm going to keep pushing," Bryant said. "Keep trying to drag us there. If we're kind of down in spirits or something like that, I'll try to push us over the hump."
And old-time Lakers-Celtics game, this was not.
"Right now, both teams are not what we used to be," Bryant said. "But it's always an eerie feeling walking down the halls and being surrounded by green. Growing up and watching this franchise and being a part of some great battles and being here, it's a very special place."
With a very special point guard.
Some rival executives have believed for weeks that Rondo will be the Lakers' top free-agent target next summer -- if they can't pry him away in a trade sooner than that. Celtics president Danny Ainge is notorious for not hanging up on anyone with a trade offer, and it wouldn't be the first time he's discussed dealing Rondo -- something he has said repeatedly that he doesn't want to do.
The Lakers and Celtics had preliminary talks on a deal that never gained any traction in 2013, with Rondo and Dwight Howard as the centerpieces. The two franchises have explored other trade possibilities for Rondo since then, with no success, league sources said.
As Scott was conducting his postgame interview outside the visiting locker room, Ainge walked by with a big smile and said, "Want to have breakfast tomorrow?" Scott laughed, and politely declined.
In Rondo, Bryant the loner has found a kindred spirit -- a cerebral, edgy, moody, ultra-competitive irritant whose game and personality complement him perfectly.
"We get along extremely well," Bryant said. "We see the game in a similar fashion in terms of our aggressiveness and our mindset. It's good to get together with him."
Asked if there was any commiserating about the sorry state of their proud franchises, Bryant said, "Like a mutual intervention? Nah, not really. We just talked about the game, talked about the league, some good old memories and stuff like that, different strategies and things they tried to do against us and things we tried to do against them. It was a basketball geek conversation."
"I just never really understood how a guy that size could get 17, 20 rebounds," Bryant said. "I still don't really understand that. It's unbelievable."
So is the fact that the Lakers and Celtics are this bad at the same time, but here we are.
