Kobe Bryant, Kyrie Irving

Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant has had a big impact on Kyrie Irving during his career.

(Mark Duncan, Associated Press)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The stage was supposed to belong to Kyrie Irving, a carry-over from a brilliant year that included a gold medal at the FIBA World Championships, a new maximum contract and his first winning season. But Irving was visibly discouraged, hobbling up and down the court, struggling just to walk to the showers in the visitor's locker room at the United Center.

Dealing with tendinitis in his left knee and a sore right foot and needing advice during the Eastern Conference semifinals, Irving reached out to a sage veteran, one who had dealt with his own share of injuries: Kobe Bryant.

"During the Chicago series he was the first person I called when I had my knee issues," Irving admitted Thursday afternoon when asked about his relationship with the Lakers star. "I asked him a few things. He knew a little bit about (Tom) Thibodeau's defense and how they are going to corral me and what they are going to do knowing I'm hurt and he just told me how to be more effective in the scoring areas as well as on the defensive end.

"We talked for about 30 minutes and he gave me as great a talk as I needed at that time. I was in a terrible mental space knowing I couldn't be as effective as I wanted to be. He was the first person I called and we've had a great dialogue over the last few years so it's been great."

That admission from Irving helps capture the relationship between the two players and helps explain why Bryant's Sunday announcement -- that this season would be his last -- jolted Irving the same way it did so many other players and devoted NBA fans.

Upon hearing the news, Irving once again grabbed his phone and reached out to his friend, mentor and idol.

"I honestly didn't know he was playing that night against the Pacers," Irving said. "I texted him, I was like, 'Man, you've allowed me to grow in my own space but having guys like you that I can idolize and look up to, I'm going to take your legacy, or try to take your legacy even further and be on the same greatness wavelength as you.' That's something we all strive to do. Whether it happens or not, who knows? But for me, idolizing somebody like that, Kobe and 'Bron, guys that I've been watching for a long time, when Kobe leaves the game, the game will never be the same."

During Sunday's goodbye press conference, a normally steely-faced Bryant got emotional when explaining his decision. Midway through the 25-minute question-and-answer session, Bryant was asked about the younger players, singling out Irving as one he admires and a player who often calls for pointers.

Irving and Bryant started to develop a relationship during the summer of 2012 at the Team USA training camp in Las Vegas.

Irving, 20 years old and fresh off his rookie season, was a member of the select team, helping prepare the national team for the London Olympics. The day's practice session had wrapped up when Irving challenged the future Hall of Famer to a $50,000 game of one-on-one.

"From that point on, every time we played since I was a rookie, I was just trying to earn his respect," Irving said. "Guys that have come before me, I never forget their groundwork. Even guys that have come before Kobe, that allowed him to leave a legacy on this game that will last forever."

The two never had their head-to-head showdown, but Irving, whose confidence and swagger can be taken the wrong way at times, isn't ready to let go of the challenge.

"I think I would do it now though," he said with a smile. "He would still go at me and it would be good."

That may never come to fruition, but the two players are scheduled to match up twice in team competition before Bryant retires. The first game is set for Feb. 10, 2016, as Bryant's farewell tour makes its only stop in Cleveland. Then comes a March 10 meeting in Los Angeles.

Soon, Bryant will no longer be in the NBA. He won't be out there on the court draining late-game daggers and talking trash the same way he did on that summer day in Las Vegas three years ago, a memory Irving considers "priceless." But the bond the two have formed means the five-time NBA champion, one of the greatest players of all time, will only be a phone call away -- just as he has been during Irving's maturation into a three-time All-Star and one of the best point guards.

"His words of encouragement throughout the year, just checking up on me and making sure I'm OK and seeing where I was health wise," Irving said. "Just giving me advice constantly throughout the year, it's helped me tremendously throughout my career."

Bryant has left his legacy.

"With 17 NBA All-Star selections, an NBA MVP, five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals and a relentless work ethic, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of our game," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement Sunday night. "Whether competing in the Finals or hoisting jump shots after midnight in an empty gym, Kobe has an unconditional love for the game."

Bryant's competitive fire burned for years, the emotion poured out every night no matter the stakes.

Irving, an enthusiastic pupil, has been watching since he was a teenager. And he's hoping to follow the lessons learned the last few years, to mimic Bryant's most discernible trait.

"That emotion he comes with during the game and that seriousness that everyone is sort of afraid to have," Irving said when asked what stands out to him. "Going at everybody and anybody, that mentality on any given night, whether it's a two-guard or whether he's playing against another great team, he's coming with that same mentality every, single game. That's something that we all would try to emulate. That competiveness comes with that emotion and it translates out on the floor.

"When he went down with his Achilles injury, you could just tell in his face that we weren't there when he was shooting or running up and down the court to get 35 per game, but he was putting his team in position to win and doing everything possible that no one was even aware of. All we could do was guess what he was doing, putting greatness out there on the floor. To me that was something great to see. I try to emulate that and take things from his game and turn it into my own. But he's Kobe Bryant. There's not going to be anybody like him."