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LeBron James to Kobe Bryant: 'Hope I Made You Proud' After Lakers' NBA Title

Tyler Conway@jtylerconwayX.com LogoFeatured ColumnistOctober 15, 2020

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James gestures during the national anthem as Kobe Bryant's retired jerseys are lit up in the background, prior to the team's NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

LeBron James posted an Instagram photo dedicated to Kobe Bryant on Wednesday, three days after the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship.  

"Hope I'm made you proud my brother!! Love and miss you Champ!!" James wrote in the caption of a picture featuring him with a No. 24 Bryant jersey.

SportsCenter @SportsCenter

.@KingJames with a message for Kobe Bryant 💛💜 (🎨: cole/Instagram) https://t.co/G7WXJmtn3T

After Bryant's death in January, James dedicated the season to the Lakers legend and promised to "continue [Bryant's] legacy."

The Lakers wore a patch with Bryant's initials on their jerseys after his death and found several other ways to honor him and his family, including the introduction of their Black Mamba jerseys.

The team chose to wear the Black Mamba uniforms in Games 2 and 7 of every playoff series in honor of Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, who also died in the helicopter crash. The Lakers also wore them in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Gianna, who was a rising star on the basketball floor in her own right, wore No. 2.

"I mean, every time you put on purple and gold, you think about his legacy," James told reporters of Bryant in September. "You think about him and about what he meant to this franchise for 20-plus years, and what he stood for both on the floor and off the floor. What he demanded out of his teammates and what he demanded out of himself. We have some similarities in that sense."