Inspiration, Competition, Admiration
How Kobe Bryant’s Relationship with LeBron James Evolved
CLEVELAND—The two stars laughed with each other as LeBron James bantered along with Kobe Bryant by the scorer’s table. Bryant later teased James at center-court moments after he bricked an alley oop. Once the buzzer sounded, Bryant and James hugged each other and offered encouraging words.
The matchup Bryant and James shared last year at Staples Center conveyed the images of two close friends relishing both their tight bond and respect for each other’s craft.
“They were smiling at each other,” Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving recalled.
When the Lakers (11-43) visit the Cleveland Cavaliers (37-14) on Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena, more nostalgia seems likely to emerge. After all, Bryant has savored seemingly every moment surrounding his 20th and final NBA season. James told reporters the game will become “very emotional just knowing it’s his last hurrah.”
“He’s done so much, not only for the Lakers organization, but for me as a kid,” James told reporters this week. “Growing up, I was watching Kobe and things of that nature and also competing against him.”
The Lakers technically list Bryant as questionable to play because of soreness in his right shoulder. But there is no question plenty expect him to play. Assuming that happens, Bryant and James appear likely to share moments that will include words, hugs and even matching up. But neither will be able to say with a straight face that they were always close.
James declined to tell reporters how his relationship with Bryant has evolved. But Bryant admitted last season he would not have shown such warmth toward James under different circumstances.
“If we were contending for a championship, I would be my same moody self,” Bryant said. “But right now, I tend to have a little more perspective knowing I won’t get a chance to play him on the court for much longer. You want to enjoy it.”
Kobe Bryant soars in for the dunk while LeBron James challenges him during the 2011 NBA All-Star Game. (AP Images)
Keeping a Distance
James gushed he sported an afro growing up because Bryant wore that look. James also had a poster of Bryant hanging in his room. Two days before playing in the NBA All-Star game in 2002, Bryant saw a 17-year-old James. The previous summer in New Jersey, Bryant spoke to James at ABCD Camp and gave him a pair of his signature shoes.
But once James followed Bryant’s path in 2003 by jumping straight from high school to the NBA, any connection they had stopped there.
On the night James was drafted in 2003, Bryant upstaged his big night amid breaking news that he planned to opt out of his contract with the Lakers and seek free agency after the following season. In 2010, former Lakers coach Phil Jackson suspected Bryant did that to upstage James.
“He had to be the best every single night,” said Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue, who played with Bryant from 1998-2001. “He’s not going to open up to him and give him any leeway or give him any reason to try to come in and take his spot.”
A relationship eventually developed on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. Then, James got a first-hand look at Bryant’s work ethic. Then, Bryant saw how James related to teammates to help elevate their play. In a joint interview on NBA Entertainment, Bryant praised James’ athleticism while James complimented Bryant’s fundamentals.
“There’s a mutual respect that we have for one another,” Bryant said. “It’s that level of respect that enables us to perform at a high level when we compete against each other.”
Yet, that respect mostly came from afar. So much that James admitted last year Bryant did not recruit him when the Lakers pursued him during the 2014 offseason.
Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant greets Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James before the start of their last match-up, on March 10, 2016, in Los Angeles. (AP Images)
Lost Opportunity
The matchup seemed inevitable. At least, that’s what the Nike puppet commercials suggested.
Though most in the league anticipated James and Bryant meeting in the NBA Finals, something else happened. The Magic eliminated the Cavaliers in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland’s season ended early the following year with a loss to Boston in the Eastern semifinals. Meanwhile, Bryant’s next two championships without Shaq happened against a forgettable team (Orlando) and an old rival (Boston).
“I know the world wanted to see it,” James said earlier this season. “He held up his end and I didn’t hold up my end, and I hate that.”
Bryant did not hold up his end, either.
When James announced he would take his talents to South Beach for the 2010-11 season, Bryant recalled thinking, “I’ve got to get my knee healthy.” But Bryant’s knee stayed troublesome amid the Lakers’ four-game loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals. Dallas then humbled the Heat in the Finals.
While James won two NBA championships in four more NBA Finals appearances, the Lakers soon spiraled downward, partly amid endless injuries to Bryant.
“That makes me appreciate what I grew up watching with Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird,” said Bryant, referring to the Lakers and Celtics playing against each other in the NBA Finals three times in the 1980s. “You wanted to have that same kind of rivalry. But it never happened.”
Kobe and LeBron stand side-by-side during LeBron’s rookie year in 2004. They had many memorable battles throughout the years but never met in the NBA Finals. (L.A. Daily News: Hans Gutknecht)
An Appreciation
The details stayed fresh in Lue’s mind regarding a story that perfectly captures Bryant’s competitiveness. During the 1999-2000 season, Lue blocked Bryant’s layup attempt during a five-on-five scrimmage that left Bryant fuming.
“He went crazy. Kobe wanted to fight me at first. Then he wanted to play one-on-one after practice,” Lue said, smiling. “I said, ‘No, I’m not playing you one-on-one.’ He was so mad. After that, every day we stepped onto the court, he just went after me every single day.”
Lue then described Bryant and Michael Jordan as a “spitting image of each other” after also playing with Jordan on the Washington Wizards (2001-2003). Does James have those same qualities?
“LeBron’s the same way, it’s just they’re more vocal about it,” Lue said. “They’re more demonstrative about it. They’ll get on guys. They’ll cuss guys out. They’ll even fight guys if they have to, so that’s just the difference, but they still all have the same will to win.”
Lue also argued they react the same way to other things, too. He reported that Bryant responded well to Jackson holding him and O’Neal “more accountable than anyone else on the team.” Only two weeks into his head-coaching tenure, Lue said he critiqued James during film sessions and timeouts. As the 37-year-old Bryant has nursed season-long injuries the past three years, the 30-year-old James has changed his recovery and dietary habits.
Yet, Lue considers James’ basketball IQ superior to anyone else, including Bryant and Jordan.
“With their will to win and the way they got on guys, they would fight a guy if they had to,” Lue said. “But LeBron, his IQ (is better) because he can play 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. And he knows every position on the floor.”
Apparently, that would not have been possible without Bryant’s influence from afar.
“I knew I had to be better because of Kobe Bryant,” James said this season. “I knew he was in the gym and I knew he was working on his game. So every day that I didn’t want to work out or every day I felt like I couldn’t give more, I always thought of Kobe. Because I knew that he was getting better and I was like, ‘Man, if you take a day off, he’s going to take advantage of it.’”
All of which spurred a distant relationship into moments both Bryant and James will cherish on the court in Cleveland for one last time.