During LeBron James’ childhood, he idolized Michael Jordan. However, now that the Lakers superstar is nearing he end of his Hall of Fame career, the Bulls icon has become the player he’s most compared, especially those determined to place them as basketball’s GOAT.
In a recent and very revealing interview on The Pat McAfee Show, the veteran opened up about their relationship. Even though James said their dynamic is in “a good spot,” he did share that there is some distance between them. “We don’t talk,” he started out on Wednesday.
“Because I’m still playing. I’m still playing, I’m still focused on my craft right now,” he then added, while admitting that he “would hope so” to improve their relationship once he finally retires from the professional sport.
The 40-year-old recalls a similar situation happened with another purple and gold legend. “The funny thing is, me and Kobe — the late, great Kob, obviously — me and Kobe never had a real relationship either,” James said. “We were on the [USA] Olympic team, we had a great relationship there. The Olympic team in ’08, the Olympic team in ’12, but it was always competitive between us.”
“We were always like, I was on the East Coast, he was on the West Coast, and it was like, even though … in ’09 and we didn’t beat Orlando and didn’t get an opportunity to play him in the Finals [there was a competitive friction],” LeBron recalled.
The all-time NBA leader in points believes in patience, as his relationship with Kobe evolved gradually, and even more so when he signed for Los Angeles in 2018. “That’s when our relationship became really, really good,” he shared. “He welcomed me. He called me, like, ‘Bro, anything you need in L.A., I got you.”
“You’re a Laker now. Your family’”, he remembered Bryant telling him. “And we would have multiple conversations. Obviously, you guys saw him coming to a lot of games. … And when I passed him for the scoring record in Philly, he had a tweet out there like, ‘Keep on going.’ Like, ‘Keep transcending the game. Keep going.’ And that s— meant so much to me.”
