Comparisons between Los Angeles Lakers newcomer LeBron James and Lakers legend Kobe Bryant were raised a notch higher ever since James' move to L.A. over the summer.
However, despite how people seem to love to pit these two future Hall of Famers against each other, it was recently revealed by Bryant himself that he has apparently played a hand in the development of LeBron to the player that he is today.
Bryant's new book “Mamba Mentality” is set to hit stands on Oct. 23, and The Players' Tribune featured a number of interesting excerpts. One of them focused on Bryant's influence on James and the latter's leadership style.
“I always aimed to kill the opposition. The main thing LeBron and I discussed was what constitutes a killer mentality. He watched how I approached every single practice, and I constantly challenged him and the rest of the guys.”
Bryant and James were Team USA teammates, and according to the former, there was one specific defining moment between the two which would play a pivotal role on how LeBron sees the game today.
“I remember there was one half when we were messing around. I came into the locker room at half-time and asked the guys—in a less PG manner—what in the hell we were doing. In the second half, LeBron responded in a big way—he came out with a truly dominant mindset. And I’ve seen him lead that way ever since.”
This is great to hear for Lakers fans as they now turn to the new face of their storied franchise to bring back the team to their glory days. To them, there is no better mentor for LeBron than the great Kobe himself.
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