Nick Sirianni used Kobe Bryant’s tone-setting transfer towards Pau Gasol in 2008 Olympics to spur workforce forward of recreation towards Carson Wentz, Washington Commanders

PHILADELPHIA — Coach Nick Sirianni channeled Kobe Bryant earlier than the Philadelphia Eagles’ recreation towards Carson Wentz and the Washington Commanders on Sunday, and the outcomes on the sphere mirrored his Mamba mentality — proper all the way down to the ultimate rating.

Sirianni already had deliberate to inform a narrative about competitiveness to his gamers throughout their workforce assembly Saturday night time. However as he was scrolling by way of his telephone through the bus journey to Washington, a clip from Netflix’s upcoming “Redeem Group” documentary concerning the 2008 United States Olympic males’s basketball workforce popped up on his display.

In it, LeBron James revealed that Bryant instructed his teammates that he was going to run “by way of Pau [Gasol]’s f—ing chest” on the primary play of their recreation towards Spain — USA’s greatest menace within the match. The 2 had been mates and teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, nevertheless it did not matter for Bryant — what did was successful and setting a tone.

Positive sufficient, Bryant drilled Gasol to the bottom the primary likelihood he obtained.

“Oh, ain’t no manner we’re shedding this recreation,” James recalled. “We’re about to beat the s— out of Spain.”

It was too excellent for Sirianni to not embrace in his discuss to his gamers. For one, it match the theme of competing. And two, it dovetailed nicely with the Eagles’ circumstance in Week 3, as they confronted Wentz, their former franchise quarterback, for the primary time.

Positive sufficient, Philadelphia sacked Wentz 9 occasions and registered 17 QB hits in a soul-busting efficiency.

“It was an ideal video so as to add to the story I used to be telling there, and it did match fairly nicely [with the opponent] of like, ‘Pau Gasol is my brother, Pau Gasol is my teammate, Pau Gasol, I like him, however I am working by way of that man’s chest,'” Sirianni mentioned. “It was a cool video and it match rather well this weekend to say, we are the final opponents.”

As destiny would have it, Sunday’s ultimate rating was 24-8, the 2 numbers Bryant wore as a professional.

Bryant was an Eagles fan, having spent a part of his childhood within the Philly space, making it all of the extra becoming.

“Somebody made it clear to me that the rating ended up 24-8, which I believed was fairly cool, though we needed to attain much more factors than that and we needed them to attain nothing,” Sirianni mentioned. “However, we’ll take that.”