For many years now, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has been considered the best player in the world. He has also established himself as one of the best to ever lace up a pair of sneakers and step foot on a basketball court.

But once upon a time, The King was also a fanboy.

On the latest episode of “The Shop,” LeBron shared an unforgettable experience he had with Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star Game when he was a junior in high school:

The humble beginnings of a superstar. It’s amazing to see how life turns out sometimes.

Of course, as we came to know, James eventually became arguably the best player of this generation. And most would agree — aside from Kobe stans — that King James has already surpassed The Black Mamba in the ranks of the greatest players to ever play the game.

From around 2008 to 2010, James and Bryant were both regarded as the two best players in the league. Fans clamored for a colossal showdown between the two generational superstars in the NBA Finals.

Unfortunately, the world never got to see the Kobe-LeBron Finals that we all deserved. The clamor was white hot especially in the 2008-09 season, when both Kobe’s Lakers and James’ Cleveland Cavaliers finished atop their respective conferences.

Jackson Stone · 

However, the Orlando Magic spoiled the party by knocking off the Cavs in the East Finals, depriving NBA fans of the LeBron-Kobe Finals.

James and Bryant obviously have a ton of respect for each other, and this goes way back even when they were competing against each other. For the longest time, however, there had been a divide between Kobe fans and LeBron fans as they wholeheartedly defended their idol as the better over the other.

But now that LeBron James is donning the Purple and Gold and dominating with the Lakers, there might not be as much of a divide among the two fan bases.