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5 Greatest Kobe vs. LeBron Moments

By Carter Johnson

Feb 17, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Eastern Conference forward LeBron James (6) of the Miami Heat and Western Conference guard Kobe Bryant (24) of the Los Angeles Lakers laugh during the second half of the 2013 NBA All-Star Game at the Toyota Center. The Western Conference won 143-138. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 17, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Eastern Conference forward LeBron James (6) of the Miami Heat and Western Conference guard Kobe Bryant (24) of the Los Angeles Lakers laugh during the second half of the 2013 NBA All-Star Game at the Toyota Center. The Western Conference won 143-138. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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In light of the final matchup between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, we reminisce on the greatest moments of the brief rivalry between the two.

NBA
Jan 15, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) in the second half of the NBA game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /

Seeing as the Cleveland Cavaliers are first in the Eastern Conference and the Los Angeles Lakers are dead last in the West, there typically would be no reason for fans to have their Wednesday night matchup circled on their calendars.

But they are for one reason: the game chronicles the end of one of the more entertaining and underrated rivalries in NBA history.

On Wednesday night, Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant and Cavs star forward LeBron James will go head to head for the last time.

Related Story: The NBA's 50 Greatest Players of All-Time

While LeBron currently finds himself in the role of the former best player in the world dethroned by a young, upstart star in Golden State’s Stephen Curry, James was once a rising young star trying to unseat Bryant as the league’s best player. This led to a rivalry mostly perpetuated by the fans and the media and gave us some epic battles between two of the greatest players of the decade in the mid-2000s.

At the height of the perceived rivalry (2007-10), LeBron won the head-to-head matchups 4-2 and also netted more MVPs, earning two consecutive awards to Kobe’s one. However, Kobe came out on top in the ever-important category of championships, winning two while LeBron lost in two consecutive Eastern Conference Finals.

The two were never able to give the fans the ultimate gift of an NBA Finals matchup, but they did create some very memorable moments (and an entertaining puppet commercial series) during the brief period of time where they were wrestling for the top spot in the association.

Without further ado, we relive the five greatest moments of the Kobe-LeBron rivalry.

Next: No. 5

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