PHILADELPHIA — LeBron James was a teenager when he first met Kobe Bryant at a youth basketball camp, in awe of his idol and ears open as the Los Angeles Lakers star offered advice to the prodigy that has lasted to this day. I remember one thing he said was that if you want to try and be great at it, and want to be one of the greats, you've got to put the work in." James put in the work and followed Bryant's path -- from making the leap from high school straight to the NBA, to winning NBA titles, and, eventually, to playing in Los Angeles. With a driving right-handed layup, James no longer chased Bryant, he zoomed past him for third place on the NBA's career scoring list. "I'm just happy to be in any conversation with Kobe Bryant, one of the all-time greats to ever play," James said.

Source: New York Times January 26, 2020 04:45 UTC