Kobe once told LeBron and his fellow campers that maybe they’ll be in the league someday, threatening him to win more championships.

Los Angeles Lakers legends Kobe Bryant and LeBron James first stumbled upon each other in a camp called ABCD, where the former gave a talk. James, at that time, was a junior in high school, as he recalled Bryant — who at that time was in the early stages of his career — explaining the importance of hard work and perseverance.

James eventually took Bryant’s place

What’s also ironic about the video clip of LeBron attending and listening to Kobe in his talk was that the ‘Black Mamba’ stated he’d eventually see some players in the audience in the league someday. Bean also nonchalantly said that maybe these players could even derpive him of winning a championship, but he’d do his best not to allow it.

Years later, from 2009-2011, James eventually went toe-to-toe with Bryant for the right to claim the status of the best player in the league. They never faced each other in the NBA Finals, but the two all-time greats were often put against each other because they were easily the two best players in the league. It was wild to think about how, years prior to that, “The King” was just in high school talking about how he wanted to accomplish everything that Bean had already done:

“I don’t want to be like Kobe Bryant. I just want to accomplish the things that he accomplished, like winning the championship, All-Star, just doing those things,” James added.

From looking up to Kobe to filling in his footsteps

It’s also ironic to say that little did both Bryant and James know when they first encountered each other in ABCD camp that LeBron would eventually be Kobe’s successor with the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s also such a full-circle moment for LBJ to lead the Lakers to their 17th championship and put the franchise on his back at the time when Bean passed away.

The day before Bryant passed away was also the moment when the four-time champion overtook him in the NBA’s all-time scoring list, which was why Kobe’s final tweet was a nod to LeBron.

Only time will tell if we’ll ever see a story like the one of Bryant and James ever again. But there’s no doubt that this full circle moment is one of the greatest stories in NBA history.