Kobe Bryant visited Cleveland for the last time as a pro player on Wednesday. After the 120-111 Lakers loss, he was asked about his rivalry with LeBron James. His answer: there really isn't one.
Kobe Bryant doesn’t consider LeBron James to be a rival
It’s hard to disagree with Kobe on this.
"I wouldn't say he was a rival," Bryant said, according to Fox Sports. "I just felt like we were completely different generations. I just missed that thing completely. Not like a Magic and Bird sort of thing. It was more like, from the time he came in the league it was more helping him, giving him direction, advice, 'cause I was just so much older by NBA years. So no, I've never had that."
It’s hard to take anything Bryant says about opponents at face value, because his ultra-competitive nature doesn’t always allow for him to acknowledge that others have made a big impact on him. In this case, however, it seems like he’s absolutely right. The ingredients for a rivalry just weren’t there.
When James came into the league, Bryant already had three rings. Not only is LeBron too young to be his rival, but he has also played his entire career in the other conference, which means that the two haven’t faced each other much in the regular season. Despite the Lakers and LeBron’s Cavalier teams of the mid-aughts starring at the same time, the two squads never met in the NBA Finals. That’s a shame, but not something Kobe worries about.
“It didn’t matter to me,” Kobe said. “I just wanted to win the damn thing. I didn’t care who we played. For the fans, it probably stinks because it would have been a great matchup, but from a player’s perspective it doesn’t matter who you play. Just want to win the championship.”
Bryant was too late to battle Jordan and too early to cross paths with LeBron. Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett played a completely different position. Despite being one of the most divisive players ever, he's right. He never had any true rivals.
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