Jason Segel has just begun portraying Lakers coach Paul Westhead on HBO’s Winning Time, but the How I Met Your Mother actor admits he is a “life-long” fan of the Lakers, particularly Kobe Bryant. Segel stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to tell a heartwarming story about how Bryant helped the young actor land a movie role in 2008.
“I hadn’t done that much stuff yet, ” Segel admits, “and the head of a studio didn’t want to hire me. So, the agency gave him a ticket to the Laker game and without telling him they gave me the other ticket to the Laker game, so when he shows up, we are sitting next to each other,” the actor explains.
“[The studio head] has no idea who I am really…and all of a sudden Kobe saw me out of the corner of his eye,” Segel continues, saying that Bryant stopped in the middle of his warm-up to greet the actor. “He ran over and gave me a hug, and he said, ‘You’re a funny motherf*****.'” Segel got the gig the next day, though he won’t admit what the movie was since, allegedly, it wasn’t good. Considering the timeline, it must have been Get Him To The Greek.
Segel admitted that he later found out Bryant mistook him for fellow comedian Seth Rogen. Still, who else can say they have been hugged by a sweaty Kobe Bryant while being called a funny motherf*****?!
