Kobe Bryant will be in Cleveland tomorrow to play the Cavaliers, once again facing up against LeBron James. The relationship between the two superstars has always interested me. For some reason Kobe locking LeBron down in the All-Star game always stuck out to me- it felt like he had a mental edge over him more than anything. They didn’t look like they had a great relationship then, but what can you expect when the two biggest alpha dogs face one another? There is no time for friendship. Now that we have retirement-Kobe they can show their admiration toward one another.
If both are healthy for the remainder of the season, there are 3 more games between the two. LeBron talked to ESPN about his favorite memory of the Mamba:
“I think my most fond moment is he gave me his shoes when I was in high school. I think I was playing in a tournament in Teaneck, N.J., and they were playing in the [2002] All-Star game in Philly. And I had an opportunity to go meet him, and he gave me a pair of his shoes, and I actually wore them in a game against Oak Hill, against Melo [Carmelo Anthony], actually. So, six degrees of separation right there.”
He also spoke about the admiration he has for Kobe:
“In high school I wore a nappy afro because of Kobe Bryant. I always said my inspiration came from Jordan, but I always thought Jordan was so out of this world that I could never get there. Kobe was someone that I just always kind of wanted to be like and play like.”
I have never seen a retirement quite like this- Kobe is just so universally respected by everyone in the NBA. That has already proven to be true this season, but look for it to reach peak level during All-Star weekend.
