• Kobe Bryant takes basketball very seriously and can often be humorless when it comes to perfecting his craft
• Despite the seriousness of the 2008 Olympics, Kobe couldn’t stop himself from laughing at jokes cracked by LeBron James
• Jason Kidd told a story of how LeBron helped Kobe loosen up and connect with his teammate at the Olympics
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant shared a wonderful relationship with each other during their careers. That relationship was built when they were teammates in the 2008 Olympics, as LeBron’s good humor won over veterans on the squad, including Kobe, according to Jason Kidd.
“I’ll give LeBron a lot of credit. Because LeBron did something every morning that I don’t think a lot of people understood. He was funny. In the mornings, he would do impersonations and introduce someone. He would do these things and you could see people laugh. Kobe, normally, would be serious in warmups. But then Kobe started laughing and he started joining in.”
Kidd’s interview plays over certain moments that he’s referring to, including LeBron impersonating an announcer and doing a Kobe introduction. There is also a different clip from the same Olympics where James is impersonating Kobe.
Kobe clearly lightened up as the Olympics wore on, as the Kidd clip also shows Kobe trash-talking Michael Redd for not finishing an autograph session before him.
LeBron James And Kobe Bryant Built A Fantastic Friendship
The 2008 Olympics broke the ice between two of the best players in the NBA at the time, as James and Bryant started enjoying the kind of relationship Kobe had enjoyed with Michael Jordan. Kobe would take on a big brother role, even defending LeBron when he made the controversial decision to join the Miami Heat in 2010.
Kobe was integral in bringing LeBron to the Lakers in 2018, as their personal relationship helped the Lakers recruit LeBron to the squad. It’s regrettable that Kobe never got to see LeBron lift a championship as a Lakers, as his untimely death in January 2020 broke the hearts of millions around the world.
LeBron was among those millions, mourning not only the loss of one of the greatest players of all time but the loss of his close friend.
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