Paul George revealed this week that shortly after suffering his gruesome broken leg this past August, Kobe Bryant reached out to him.

"What I took away from him reaching out is that you have to become the best teammate, be a student and observe the game," George told the Los Angeles News Group. "Being out, you have to take it as a positive and sit back and learn.”

That’s exactly what George has done, using his recovery time to rebuild his body and learn from the greats like Bryant and Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird.

"Having been through these types of situations myself, I wanted him to know if he needed some advice on how I tried to work on my game, even though I wasn't playing, to give me a call," said Bryant, who suffered a leg fracture last season. "I'd like to talk to him a little bit."

It’s something that George says he will “always remember.”

George adds that he’d like to be a Pacer for life just as Bryant has been a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I want to do the same thing he did with sticking with one franchise and riding it out,” George said. 

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(Photos from left: Andy Lyons/Getty Images, Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)