Bill Belichick Recalls Kobe Bryant Speech to Tom Brady, Patriots, 'Great' for QB to Hear Message

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick detailed NBA legend Kobe Bryant's speech to the New England Patriots during Belichick's shared tenure with Tom Brady.

"Kobe's message was, well he had a lot of great messages," Belichick said during a Tuesday appearance on Hang Out with Sean Hannity (1:08:35 mark). "One of his big messages was, you know, as a player, you've gotta evolve. And when I was young, I could take the ball and I could drive on anybody and score. Well, it was a later point in my career when I couldn't do that. I couldn't just get the ball and drive past anybody. So I had to become a scorer in a different way. I had to move without the ball. I had to make other shots. I had to make shots further away from the basket. You know, I had to change my game to still be effective. And I think that's what a lot of great players do, no matter what sport they're in, but especially in football."

"At some point, you're not quite as fast, you're not quite as strong, you're not quite whatever," he added. "But your experience in finding out what you can do and how to do it to the maximum level for your particular skill set is really important."

Belichick also explained how Bryant's message specifically resonated with Brady.

"Kobe's message was great, and I think it was great for Brady, too, you know, to hear that because, you know, Tom's game evolved a little bit too as he matured," Belichick said (1:09:33 mark). "Not matured, but as he gained more experience. And what Tom did, and I told Tom this many times. And we laugh about it, but it's the truth. 'Tom, when you have the ball in your hands, we cannot gain yards. You can't gain any yards. Fourth-and-one, quarterback sneak. That's it. You're not gaining yards. We don't start gaining yards until you get rid of the ball. Hand it to somebody, throw it to somebody, but give it to somebody else.' And so he was like the ultimate point guard."

Bryant, who won five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers during his Hall of Fame career, visited New England's OTAs in May 2018. He spent time at the Patriots' practice and was in the team meeting room.

New England went on to have an immensely successful 2018 season, winning the AFC East with an 11-5 record before going on to defeat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.

It marked the sixth and final championship that Belichick and Brady won together, with the latter capturing one more Super Bowl victory during his 2020 season on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.