Growing up in Southern California, LaMelo Ball has always drawn inspiration from Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. From skipping college to his draft-night story and NBA success, Ball’s career has followed a path with many parallels to the five-time champion. So when the Charlotte Hornets guard celebrated his 24th birthday, he marked the occasion by paying homage to Bryant.

Since the off-season is ongoing, which accolade has the Charlotte star guard managed to achieve? Well, it’s time for his hardwood accomplishment, but his personal milestone of celebrating his birthday. “KOBE year 🎈 thank you GOD…BLESSINGS 🕺🏽🛸💕.” The Lakers legend’s #24 is always a source of inspiration for many, and it’s the same for Ball. “You throw a little piece of paper in the sky and yell, ‘Kobe!‘” he previously told Yahoo Sports.

Now, if you have noticed, their birthdays are separated by a day, with Bryant born Aug. 23 and Ball a day before. “Legend for sure. Everybody loved Kobe. It’s Kobe, you know. Everybody knows what he did, how he did it. Respect. Legend,” Ball paid respect to the 5x NBA champion. As stated, both have more parallels. Both come from basketball families, and both skipped college to forge their path in the NBA. But for the youngest Ball, he had to spend some time overseas before being part of the draft. He was just 16 when he signed in the Lithuanian league with his elder brother, LiAngelo.

By 19, he was ready, and the Charlotte Hornets were ready to bet on his skills. Something they couldn’t do with Kobe Bryant.

The team selected Kobe as their 13th overall pick but immediately traded him to the Lakers, a decision that has been called a “what-if” moment for the league and is now the focus of a new Hollywood project.

Hollywood’s next Kobe biopic

Unlike previous stories, this doesn’t talk about the Lakers icon’s career. In fact, this will be from the POV of John Nash, the then-General Manager of the New Jersey Nets, and the then-coach John Calipari, who really wanted Bryant. The title for this currently reported is ‘With the 8th Pick’, which Alex Sohn and Gavin Johannsen are doing the screenplay for. Now, there are no additional details about the cast, the film may feature roles for both Kobe and his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, according to sources.

Hopefully, this one brings more eyeballs than controversies, unlike the last one. The CNN Original Series ‘Kobe: The Making of a Legend’ was a three-part series that traced the story of Black Mamba from his childhood in Italy to his athletic superstardom and provided an intimate look at his post-NBA aspirations as a storyteller and as a father. Nothing wrong so far, right? But the second episode sparked controversy for its focus on a sensitive legal chapter in his life.

It was criticized by fans and media for its heavy focus on the 2003 legal case, a chapter both Kobe and his family had tried to move on from. It’s a chapter that both Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, have always been trying to move on from. Vanessa Bryant and the entire Bryant family were not involved in the docuseries, which also lacked interviews with his closest teammates like Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol.

The new film, by focusing exclusively on the story leading up to the 1996 draft, appears to be taking a more nuanced approach that avoids revisiting that controversial time. Rather, just focusing on the story, which helped the Lakers secure the services of a young Kobe Bryant.