On January 25^rd, when the L.A. Lakers lost to the Philadelphia 76ers’ 108 – 91, LeBron James dropped 29 points, which put him ahead of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant as the NBA’s 3^rd all time scorer.

LeBron now only trails Kareem Abdul – Jabbar and Karl Malone for the NBA All – Time Scoring record. Kobe tweeted out, not long after James made his historic shot, and congratulated his long-time friend on his success.

LeBron and Kobe have been very good friends ever since LeBron entered the league. LeBron was just a teenager when he first met Kobe, at a youth basketball camp. The Laker’s star gave LeBron advice that he says he carries to this day with him. “I was just listening,” James said. “I was just trying to soak everything up I could. 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.”

LeBron used Kobe’s advice on work ethic to get to the NBA, and when he got there, the two became two peas in a pod. From playing together on the US Olympic Team, to playing against each other at the All-Star game, these two great athletes had a very special bond. This friendship these two have was shown truly by the way Kobe reacted to LeBron passing his record. Some Lakers fans seemed to be upset about LeBron passing Kobe, but Kobe showed all love. “I don’t know if people want that or want to have this kind of contentious thing where you don’t want records to be broken or people there to surpass you,” Bryant told USA Today Sports’ Mark Medina in an story. “You should be happy for the person that comes after you to be able to surpass things that you’ve done. It’s kind of juvenile to think or to behave any other way.”

Unfortunately, just the very next day, Kobe and his daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash in L.A. The two, along with seven others, were killed due to poor visibility on the way to a youth basketball tournament. The tragic death of Kobe hit LeBron very hard, and on Friday the 31^st, he paid a heartful tribute to Kobe during a pregame ceremony at the Staples Center. LeBron carried out an amazing tribute, talking about the ceremony being a celebration of the great athletes’ life, and ended his tribute with, “In the words of Kobe Bryant, ‘Mamba Out,’ but in the words of us, ‘Not Forgotten.”