The basketball world celebrated the birthday of Kobe Bryant on 23rd August. It would have been the five-time NBA champion’s 45th birthday. Of course, a lot of NBA teams, legends, and superstars paid their tribute to The Black Mamba. After the Golden State Warriors Instagram handle posted a throwback image of Bryant with one of their forwards, the star re-shared it with an interesting comparison and a heartfelt message.

Fans celebrated Bryant’s birthday across the world. Many used social media platforms to pay their tributes. But the thing about the?Mamba?is that even bona fide Hall of Famers often view him as a fan.

Warriors star’s tribute to Kobe Bryant

Draymond Green‘s jaw dropped in his rookie year when he first saw Kobe Bryant workout before a game. A few years later, Green became one of the best defenders in the league and earned his first All-Star game selection in 2016. This gave the four-time NBA champion a chance to play alongside Bryant for the West. Both stars helped their team to an entertaining 196-173 win.

The Golden State Warriors shared a picture of Green and Kobe from that game. Green shared it in his Instagram story

Dray compared his height with the Los Angeles Lakers legend’s. He wrote, “Definitely was a little taller than Bean. Problem is, he was a 2 and I’m an undersized 5.”

Green added, “RIP Bean. It’ll never feel real.”

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The four-time NBA All-Star is not the only one who could not believe the demise of Kobe. It still doesn’t feel real to a lot of fans even though the horrific helicopter crash happened over three years ago.

Draymond Green was mesmerized

Draymond Green once revealed his first time witnessing the greatness of Kobe Bryant.

Interestingly, it was not during a game but during the pre-game workout. But given Bryant’s work ethic it is not necessarily a huge surprise. The rookie wanted to be early and get a good shooting session before the game. However, he then sat down and just watched.

Green recounted, “I just sat down and literally tracked him coming out of the tunnel all the way to the other end of the floor. And before I knew it, I had seen Kobe work out for 25 minutes, tracked him all the way back to the tunnel. That was a big deal for me?”

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Interestingly, he lost track of time as he observed the Black Mamba in his element.