“Got That Kobe Bryant Look Going!”: LeBron James Had Black Mamba and Team USA in Splits After Taking Over a Redeem Team Meeting

In 2008, Team USA was looking for redemption at the Beijing Olympics. Having struggled to bring gold back home in previous years, the infamous Redeem Team was formed. Consisting of several superstars including Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwight Howard, the team was stacked. But, perhaps the two biggest stars on the team were Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. The two got along swimmingly, and with King James being a well-known jokester his antics during practice had everyone in splits. This includes the Black Mamba, who couldn’t help but laugh at Bron’s impression of him.

Leading up to the Olympics, there were doubts surrounding the Kobe-LeBron tandem. Many wondered if the two could actually work together. After all, they were the two best players in the league, and as with any sports team egos tend to clash. However, The King’s humorous personality put those doubts to rest as he quickly bonded with the five-time NBA Champion.

Hilarious video of LeBron James imitating Kobe Bryant during their time on the Redeem Team

The Redeem Team has gone down in history as one of the greatest Olympic basketball teams. Up there with the 1992 Dream Team, the team that was sent to Beijing in 2008 was incredible. And, one of the reasons for their success was thanks to the chemistry they had with each other.

In particular, the relationship between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James is what made the team so special. Despite worries about how they would work together, the two were in sync. So much so, that King James even picked up on some of his habits and learned some of his moves.

In fact, one day, he turned up to team practice imitating the Black Mamba. With his shirt tucked in and D-Wade pointing out the similarities, Bron couldn’t help but do his best impression of Kobe. One that even had the person he was impersonating suffering from fits of laughter.

LeBron: “How do you like my look? I just tucked my shirt in!”

Wade: “He got that Kobe Bryant look going!”

LeBron: “Yeah!”

Bron got everything down, even the hand signs Kobe uses in-game. And, if that’s hard to believe, all that needs to be seen is the clip of the Cavaliers taking on the Lakers. Here, Bryant can be seen using the exact same hand signs James imitated. And upon seeing it, Bron knew exactly what was coming, showing just how close they truly were.

LeBron was once believed to have had beef with the Black Mamba

LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are two of the greatest of all time. The best part is, they both were somewhat in their primes at around the same time. As such, the media was always looking for something to hop on in order to create tension between the two. After all, everybody wants to see a good rivalry.

So, when Kobe criticized The King for his tendency to avoid physical contact at the rim, the media went wild. However, both men quashed these rumors in 2008, expressing how fun it is to be around each other.

There can be no denying the legendary status of both players. In hindsight, it’s heartwarming to know that they never let the media narratives get to them. And, that the respect they had for each other was enormous and mutual.