The sheer amount of achievements LeBron James has achieved is awe-inspiring, but the most impressive record has to be his position atop the NBA’s all-time leading scorers list. The top spot, which Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held for nearly 40 years, was deemed untouchable until James came along. But on his way to the top of the pyramid, he passed legends and friends, with Kobe Bryant being one of the most painful ones to look back at.
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James passed Kobe on the all-time scoring list in the five-time champion’s native city of Philly. After the game, he tweeted in support of James and reportedly called the four-time MVP in the locker room too. It turned out to be a bittersweet moment for the Lakers forward, as Bryant passed away later that day.
The weeks leading up to LeBron’s achievement were exciting. People in the media even believed the anticipation might be putting off the ever-so-competitive Kobe. But the reality was entirely different from this perception.
Bryant, for his part, was as gracious as ever. Despite the media trying to pit the two legends against each other, Kobe was only positive about Bron’s upcoming achievement when he sat with Mark Medina a few weeks prior.
When the reporter asked him if there were any bittersweet feelings for the moment James passed him, Bryant rubbished the idea. He called the media juvenile for the narrative when they kept pitting successful players against each other, and claimed that James passing him in the standings was an obvious effort of the work he’d put into his career.
“It’s such a juvenile thing,” he said. “It’s like you play, you have a great career. I don’t understand why people want to have this contentious thing. You should be happy for the person that comes after you, and is able to surpass you.”
He acknowledged James’ impressive career and even compared their relationship to that shared by Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Johnson and Jordan famously faced off in the 1991 NBA Finals, but James and Bryant were unfortunately never able to have one of those meetings.
But Bryant also confessed that one of the greatest pleasures of his life was playing basketball with LeBron. He talked about his time representing Team USA in the Olympics and what it meant to him.
It’s really fascinating how fans and media have never failed to pit the two against each other. However, there was only mutual love and respect between the two.
