LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are among the greatest basketball players of all time. Even though James debuted in the NBA seven years after Bryant’s debut, they had a popular rivalry. Whenever the Cleveland Cavaliers used to meet the Los Angeles Lakers, the fans would be excited about the clash between Kobe and LeBron. Since his debut in 2003, it did not take much time for LeBron James to establish himself as one of the best in the league. Even the emerging star of the Lakers, Austin Reaves, has always been a big Kobe fan. He also loved the encounters between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Anyway, these two great rivals never got to play for the same NBA team together.
But they united to help their country win Gold in the Olympics in 2008. That was an iconic team in the making. After ten years, Kobe Bryant retired, but LeBron James joined the Los Angeles Lakers. Later, Kobe said that he did welcome Bron to the Lakers family. However, two years later, Kobe Bryant with his daughter Gianna (Gigi) died in a horrific helicopter crash. In the 2019-20 season, LeBron James mentioned that they wanted to win the title to make his brother Kobe happy. That’s what LeBron James and his team did. The Lakers won their 17th title. Moreover, Mike Krzyzewski, the Team USA coach in 2008, shared his experience of watching the two great players teaming up so well.
Redeem Team Coach Talks About The Duo Of LeBron James And Kobe Bryant
Recently, the head coach of the Redeem team, Mike Krzyzewski, retired as a coach from Duke University. He shared his experience of dealing with a lot of egos in the 2008 and 2012 teams via The Athletic. The head coach of the Redeem Team explained how different the chemistry was between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Mike Krzyzewski mentioned, “They had a genuine relationship, no jealousy between the two.” Moreover, the head coach said that it was like a great piano player playing, and suddenly, a great sax player joined the party.
Adding to that, Mike mentioned that they knew what they had to do. They had to take their game to another level. The Redeem team’s coach further noted that he gets chills thinking about it. He was lucky enough to see them interact, and the James-Bryant duo never had a problem with one another. Moreover, Krzyzewski himself is one of the greatest coaches of the sport. But he let LeBron and Kobe have an organic growth in their relationship. It made a big difference.
After The 1992 Dream Team, The 2008 Redeem Brought Excitement Back In Olympics Basketball
People know about the American Dream Team and its legacy. Great stars like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and so on had a great time dominating the Barcelona Olympics back in 1992. Since then, America has not seen another dominating and exciting Olympics side. But in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Kobe Bryant united with LeBron James to entertain basketball fans all over the world. They did entertain and bring Gold. The fans called that team “The Redeem Team.” It was a great sight to see Bryant and James play alongside so well.
