“Long live Kobe Bryant, gone but never ever forgotten”: When LeBron James shared a wholesome throwback to Team USA singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the Lakers legend in 2008

LeBron James paid tribute to Kobe Bryant on what would’ve been his 42nd birthday last year by posting a Team USA video from 2008. 

August 23rd is a day that celebrates the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant. The Los Angeles Lakers legend would’ve been 43 years of age today and despite the fact that he was taken from us much too early, his impact on basketball and the people across the world will never be forgotten. 

Along the way, from his rookie season in 1996 to his final game in 2016, Kobe Bryant made several close friends. Sure, we’ve all heard the stories about how the ‘Black Mamba’ closed himself off from several of his NBA peers to solely focus on his craft but the reality of the situation is that he was well acquainted with guys like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Dwyane Wade.

Also read: ‘Kobe Bryant is the greatest Laker of all time’: When Magic Johnson explained why the Black Mamba was better than himself, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the rest

Events such as the Olympics shed light on these connections that he made and LeBron gave us a sneak peek into that exactly a year ago. 

LeBron James shared an incredibly touching video of Kobe Bryant on his birthday in 2020. 

On the eve of Team USA’s gold medal game against Spain in 2008, the former decided to celebrate Bryant’s birthday in a large banquet hall. Funnily enough, all the athletes present were seen holding relatively normal looking cake on paper plates, a rather humble dessert for players of their caliber. 

In the video that LeBron James posted, you can see him gathering everybody around to wish Kobe Bryant a happy 30th birthday. The Lakers superstar can be seen holding one of his daughters and smiling. In the caption for this throwback video, LeBron wrote, “Happy Bday my brother! Miss you man!” and followed it up with several touching hashtags.

Also read: “Kobe Bryant shook Kevin Durant out of his shoes!”: When the Lakers’ legend schooled a young KD with his savvy veteran moves

Kobe Bryant passing was tough on every single person that ever touched a basketball. However, like the ‘Black Mamba’ himself once said: Life’s too short to be bogged down by things. It’s only right that we continue to commemorate the legacy that he left behind for future generations to hopefully, pick up a basketball and be just like him, or even better.