Kobe Bryant and LeBron James will go down as two of the greatest individual competitors in NBA history. Given they played in the same era, it might have been easy for the two to have become combative as they battled to see who was the best player in the league, with Bryant playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and James playing for multiple franchises.

But according to former Lakers guard Derek Fisher, Kobe and LeBron grew closer on a personal level as members of Team USA at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing (via Sam Amick of The Athletic):

“I honestly feel like Beijing was really where it did turn, with the two of them really having the ability to be around each other on a daily basis,” Fisher said. “I don’t think there was any question that (Bryant) respected LeBron to a high degree, but until Beijing and them getting to know each other (they didn’t know each other). And for us, it was all about Boston and what they were doing. I don’t even know if he saw LeBron as the threat to the throne at that time, because the throne was really about championships.

Indeed, LeBron chose to share a particular Kobe memory from those 2008 Olympics about Bryant mowing down then-Laker teammate Pau Gasol during a team luncheon on Tuesday.

The relationship between the two greats was under further examination as James neared Bryant’s spot on the all-time scoring list. Kobe suggested LeBron was the perfect player to carry the torch in L.A., while James noted it was Bryant who gave him the courage to make the jump to the NBA straight from high school.

Kobe and LeBron shared numerous moments on the floor this season, and LeBron’s visceral emotions throughout this week–and on Friday night–are indicative of just how much Kobe meant to him personally.