Back in 2016, then rookie Devin Booker got to play against his idol, Kobe Bryant, and Booker threw up 28 points on the night. It caught Kobe’s eye, the two talked after the game and Kobe gave him an autographed pair of shoes with an inspirational message: “Be Legendary.”
Kobe Bryant signed a pair of shoes for Devin Booker and the game program. He wrote, "Be legendary." #SunsVsLakers pic.twitter.com/DR8e9r0Xk4
— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) March 24, 2016
Booker, a first-time All-Star this season, has taken that motto to heart — to the point the words “be legendary” are his new tattoo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9SqqybASUF/
Booker said this previously of Kobe’s impact on him as a player.
“It’s been a lot of what I do, man, mentality wise, approach wise everything, before I even knew him personally, he had shaped my life. My basketball career. My approach to everything,” Booker said. “The biggest thing for me was earning his respect,” Booker said. “To even be the guy in the room after we play them that he wanted to talk to or share advice with. Then our relationship had grown from there. Just figuring out what type of person he was outside of the Mamba mentality. How he raised his daughters and how much of a family man he was something that was just incredible.”
Now he has a permanent reminder of Kobe’s impact.