There are plenty of reasons for people to compare Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, especially now that they are both parts of Los Angeles Lakers lore. They were also teammates on the 2008 Redeem Team, which won gold in Beijing.

In an article by Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, longtime Team USA assistant coach Jim Boeheim knew the difference between Kobe and LeBron.

This isn’t to say LeBron sat quietly in the backseat behind Kobe, even at age 23. His friendships with Wade, Anthony and Paul grew stronger in 2008 — “They were in the card games,” says Boeheim. “They were always together” — and there was no mistaking the leader of that next generation. LeBron’s combination of basketball ability and IQ commanded respect not just from his peers, but everyone on the roster. When he spoke, they listened.

Veteran Tayshaun Prince also discussed the strategies taken by the two players.

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“Even though Coach K made Jason Kidd the captain, LeBron was pretty much a captain as well,” says Prince. “Because whether it was trying to do a breakfast in the morning or go work out at the gym before practice or any of that stuff, LeBron was the guy who was calling everybody and saying, ‘Hey, I’m doing this, man, if we all want to get our chemistry together and try to get this thing rolling the right way.’ He was the guy setting things up so everybody could be together. For him to be doing that at his age at that time, it was impressive.”

Kobe took a different tact. “His mentorship was going out, playing hard all the time, putting in the work, and letting you see it,” says Prince.

It does make sense. LeBron and Kobe are different players with different playing styles and tendencies. That's why it is so difficult to compare these two future Hall of Famers. They are both brilliant all-around players, but they differ in their priorities. Kobe is a pure scorer by instinct, while LeBron is a stat-sheet filler and an outstanding playmaker.

Still, the Redeem Team was fortunate to have multiple leaders in its core. With LeBron's team-first mentality and Kobe's work ethic, the team would go on to save the USA from another version of the 2004 Olympics failure.