Kobe Bryant Will Miss Boston, Just Not the Dropkick Murphys

Kobe Bryant Photo by Winslow Townson / AP

Kobe Bryant shipped up to Boston for the last time on Wednesday night and did not disappoint as he led the Lakers to a 112-104 win over the Celtics.

After a touching introduction and a mostly warm reception from the crowd, Bryant received one last farewell gift from the city when the Dropkick Murphys’ classic “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” played over the TD Garden speakers in the fourth quarter. The Lakers star recently revealed that he obsessively listened to the band in order to motivate himself following Los Angeles’ loss to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals.

While there are plenty of things he will miss about playing in Boston, hearing the fans sing along to the Dropkick Murphys probably won’t be one of them.

“I’m so happy all of that’s over,” Bryant said after the game.

Even though he’s a bit sick of listening to the Boston-bred band, Bryant admitted that he was thrown off when “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” didn’t come on at the start of Wednesday’s game. The Lakers star ended up having a pretty quiet first half as the Celtics were able to hold him to just four points.

“At the Finals, they were playing it at the start of the game, I was kind of looking for it,” Bryant said. “That’s probably what threw me off at the start of the game. I’m looking for the Dropkick Murphys and they didn’t play it.”

When he the band finally came on in the fourth quarter, Bryant was able to get into the swing of things and ended the game on a high note.

Amid chants of “Ko-Be!” from the crowd, Bryant turned on the heat and scored nine points in the last quarter, including a deep three-point shot that cemented the Lakers’ victory.

Despite their usually contentious relationship, Bryant wanted to thank Celtics fans for helping him say goodbye to Boston as well as for motivating him over all of these years.

“Honestly if I could chant for them, I would,” Bryant said. “I don’t think the fans here really understand how much they drove me. From the singing of the songs, the shaking of the bus going back to the hotel, you know, that stuff really stuck with me. I mean it drove me to maniacal proportions. So I don’t think they really understand how much they meant to my career.”