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Best was devastated to have been omitted from the original 37-man squad for the Australia trip when it was announced at the end of April.
The 30-year-old Ulster star was considered unfortunate to have lost out to England's Dylan Hartley for a place among the three hookers.
But just as Best was coming to terms with another hammer blow in Saturday's Celtic League final defeat by Leinster, news filtered through that Hartley had been sent off for abusing referee Wayne Barnes in the English Premiership final earlier that afternoon.
An 11-week suspension was issued to Hartley on Sunday and Best was handed a reprieve by the Lions as he was brought into the squad as his replacement.
Best, who has been capped 67 times, had been appointed captain of Ireland's tour to North America, but instead he is now due to fly to Hong Kong with the Lions on the first leg of their tour.
"When the initial squad was announced that was as low as I've felt. We were training at Ulster at the time and more and more people on our management were avoiding eye contact with me," Best said.
"Nobody avoids you when it's good news, so I had an idea from that. It was bitterly disappointing and on that Tuesday afternoon I allowed myself to dwell on it and think deeply about the whole thing.
"But we had a few very important games coming up so it's a case of picking yourself up and dusting yourself down.
"It was obviously disappointing to lose the final to Leinster on Saturday but yesterday I got the call to come along and join the boys.
"You don't like to dwell on other people's misfortune, but I definitely feel for Dylan and it's bitterly disappointing for him to miss out. That's sport."
