Kobe Bryant‘s competitiveness knew no bounds. His desire to be the best often alienated him from the rest of his competition. However, when the regular opponents became teammates for the 2008 Olympics, New York Knicks legend Carmelo Anthony made it his mission to make Bryant feel like one of the guys. During a recent episode of the 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast, Melo and the Kid Mero were reminiscing about their past with Kobe Bryant during the 4-year mark of Bryant’s tragic passing.

While talking about the Olympic team’s intense practice sessions during the 2008 Olympics, Carmelo Anthony revealed how he helped the competitive Kobe Bryant be friendly with everyone. “But it didn’t matter. Once we were on that court, I’m just a naturally—Melo… That’s just my personality. So I want to make sure that everybody is good. I wanted to make sure that ‘you ain’t coming to practice without laughing and having fun’. We gonna get to it but we gonna have fun too. I was always kind of a mediator,” recalled the 10x All-Star.

LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have always been close friends. However, in 2008, the Los Angeles Lakers revealed that he was closest to Carmelo Anthony during their Olympic run. This is because Melo played a big role in the team’s chemistry.

Kobe Bryant led the 2008 Redeem team

Kobe Bryant’s competitiveness often made him not respect his peers. You had to earn your respect from the Black Mamba by facing him on the court. However, Carmelo Anthony made sure that everyone on the team was on the same page, and this helped the team win gold in 2008.

Carmelo Anthony helped with this, as he was one of the constants on the team who maintained balance. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James led the team to an undefeated 8-0 record. In the final game against Spain, Kobe Bryant scored 20 points to give the USA its 13th gold medal in basketball.

After losing to Argentina in the 2004 Olympics and getting bronze, Team USA brought out one of its best iterations ever in 2008. With numerous superstars on the team, it was important to keep everyone’s ego in check. In the process, Carmelo Anthony helped Kobe Bryant become more friendly with the rest of the team, and this helped him grow more relationships in the future.

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