January 26th will forever be a day mentally marked on every basketball fan's calendar in honor of Kobe Bryant. That applies whether you're a fan of the game or one of its superstars such as Stephen Curry.

The Golden State Warriors point guard made sure to dedicate a post to the Los Angeles Lakers icon on Instagram with an old snapshot of them together plus a short and simple caption:

“Forever 24/8 🙏🏽 Love & continued prayers to the Bryant, Zobayan, Altobelli, Mauser and Chester families,” said Steph Curry in his post.

 

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Both Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry have always had mutual respect for one another as their careers overlapped. Curry was drafted by the Warriors in 2009 and came into the league just as Kobe reigned as its brightest star. As Kobe's light started to fade towards the end of his career, it was Curry who began to glimmer as one of the next faces of the league.

Steph Curry has been vocal about Kobe openly praising the Warriors star's “quiet killer instinct” years back. As affable of a personality as Curry is off the court, he's much closer to Bryant whenever he's on it. We saw that clear as day during Wednesday's Warriors-Grizzlies tilt, when Curry was ejected after getting frustrated from an ill-advised Jordan Poole shot.

The desire to win – the Mamba Mentality, if you will – has seeped into Curry just as it has into hundreds of NBA players and to millions more fans and hoopers around the world.