Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO — Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce have reached the happy-ending part of their season story. If it were a movie about the two of them this season, the opening scene would’ve taken place over the summer after they both played some pickup ball at UCLA and were commiserating about the lame Lakers and crummy Celtics.

Bryant and Pierce were wondering which of them would get traded — and thus saved — first.

“It’s funny, both of us kind of being in the same boat,” Bryant said. “The irony that we’re both in the (NBA) Finals now, it’s cool. But he’s a great guy. We had a great time this summer playing pickup ball and had a good time chatting with him over the All-Star break as well. So it’s good for both of us to be here.”

Pierce prepped at Inglewood High and grew up loving the Lakers and hating the Celtics. The current Lakers have one of those guys, too: Luke Walton. His idol was Larry Bird (and his dad was brief Celtic Bill Walton). Asked if he hated the Lakers while growing up, Luke sort of shrugged and said: “Hate is a strong word.”

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