LeBron James is regularly compared to Michael Jordan, but the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar grew up emulating someone else.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, LeBron said he tried to be like Kobe Bryant—even rocking an awful Afro during high school because that’s what the Los Angeles Lakers star had.
“I wanted to be just like him, man. And I always said my inspiration came from [Michael] 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.”
James added that he’s been driven to improve as a player throughout his career because of Bryant, whose work ethic served as motivation because James knew Kobe was always working on something new.
From an outside perspective, it’s fascinating to think of a 30-year-old LeBron growing up attempting to be like Kobe, who is only seven years older. But in the basketball world, seven years is a long, long time.
Just think, 13-year-old kids are heading to the driveway and pretending to be Kristaps Porzingis, Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Karl-Anthony Towns. In 2022, some of those kids will be guarding those blossoming stars. In 2030, today’s 13-year-olds will be waving goodbye to their legends.
Kobe was that player to LeBron. LeBron was that icon for Bradley Beal. Perhaps Beal is that guy for the young Wizards fan you know.
Bryant’s era is drawing to a close, but his impact will be felt around the NBA for years to come.