LeBron James: ‘Always Wanted To Be Like’ Kobe Bryant

USA Today

Once the 2015-16 NBA season officially comes to an end for the Los Angeles Lakers, five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant will retire. The Lakers superstar made the announcement that he’ll retire before the team faced the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, and it has sent shockwaves throughout the league.

Among the many NBA stars to react to Kobe’s decision to retire at the end of the season is two-time NBA champion LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. LeBron reflected on growing up a Kobe fan and always wanting to play like the future Hall of Famer via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:

“I mean, in high school I wore a nappy-ass Afro because of Kobe Bryant,” James said. “Because he wore it. I wanted to be just like him, man. And I always said my inspiration came from [Michael] Jordan, but I always thought Jordan was so out of this world that I could never get there. Kobe was someone that I just always kind of wanted to be like and play like.”

Bryant and James will face off twice this season with the first of the two matchups between the Cavaliers and Lakers taking place on Feb. 10 at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers will travel to the Staples Center on March 10 which will be the final time these two NBA legends will go head-to-head.

At this point, the Cavaliers are favored to come out of the Eastern Conference with 1/3 odds, according to Sportsbook.ag. The Lakers, however, will likely be one of the few teams in the league expected to be in contention for the first pick in the 2016 NBA Draft with the storied franchise struggling once again this season.