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LeBron James Was A Kobe Fan Growing Up: “He Was On My Wall”

We are nearing the anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death. Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among the nine people on board the helicopter that crashed and left no survivors in Calabasas, California on Sunday, January 26, 2020.

With Kobe now being gone for almost a whole year, many current and former stars are sharing their personal Kobe Bryant with the public, in order to honor his legacy.

This obviously includes LeBron James.

The Lakers’ heroes from 2010 and 2020 knew each other well – LeBron and Kobe had a close relationship. But before James’ days as an NBA player, he simply was a Kobe fan, who even had a collage on his wall in his childhood home in Akron, Ohio, like so many of us.

“I was just in awe. It’s a guy who along with a lot of other guys that was on my wall. … He had a nice collage on my wall.”

LeBron on what he remembers from the first time he played Kobe: "I was just in awe. It's a guy who along with a lot of other guys that was on my wall. … He had a nice collage on my wall."

— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) January 22, 2021