Lakers: Netflix's "Redeem Team" Doc Sheds Light On Kobe Bryant-LeBron James Dynamic
In 2008, current Los Angeles Lakers/former Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James and then-Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant were considered two of the best players in the NBA. Sadly, their Lakers runs never overlapped. The 29-year-old Bryant had just won his first-ever (and last) MVP award, while the 23-year-old James finished among the top four leading vote-getters, behind Kevin Garnett and Chris Paul, but above another future Laker, Dwight Howard. Both Bryant and James made the All-NBA First Team.
Netflix's brand-new feature-length documentary "The Redeem Team," directed by Jon Weinbach, covers the U.S. men's basketball team during its 2008 Olympic run, as it returned to the top of the international stage and won the gold medal against another former Lakers Hall of Famer, Pau Gasol (and one-time Laker Marc Gasol). The Olympic team featured a new head coach in Duke leader Mike Krzyzewski, and a new alpha dog in Bryant.
"At this time, there's literally a debate going on in every barbershop in the country, and every house: 'Who's the best player?" Then-Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer says in exclusive footage recorded for the new documentary.
"I hear the talk," Bryant reflected in archival interview footage. "I think it's exciting. As a kid growing up, you wanted to see those matchups. You wanted to see Michael and Bird, you wanted to see Michael and Magic, you wanted to see those matchups." Also presumably, other, non-Magic Johnson matchups.
LeBron James in a current chat says, "I heard it, and it was definitely on my mind, because, you know, as alphas males, you always got [a voice] in the back of your mind saying, 'I want to be recognized as the greatest in the game."
"Coach K I think did a wonderful job of making sure that things were competitive but they didn't get out of hand," then-Mavericks All-Star point guard/current Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd says in a present-day interview (well, not entirely present, as he's decked out in Lakers gear, meaning the interview was recorded while he was still an assistant coach on Frank Vogel's staff). "You gotta separate the rams, right? Like, keep the two bulls separated if we wanna have a good practice."
Kidd had a variety memorable postseason experiences where he would get up close and personal with both players outside of the Olympics. He squared off against Bryant in a Phoenix Suns-Los Angeles Lakers 2001 Western Conference Semifinals series, which the Lakers won 4-1. He met up with Bryant again during a New Jersey Nets-Lakers 2002 Finals, which L.A. swept. In a 2007 Eastern Conference Semifinals series, his Nets faced off against James's Cleveland Cavaliers, who would eventually become the first LeBron James team to reach an NBA Finals. Kidd's Nets lost in six games.
In the 2011 postseason, Kidd actually battled both Bryant and James. First, his Dallas team bested the Lakers in a 2011 Western Conference Semifinals series that marked the end of Phil Jackson's head coaching career. Later on, the Mavericks beat LeBron James's Miami Heat in a six-game 2011 Finals series. As a coach, Kidd's playoff experience dovetailed only with James, not Bryant. He was the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets when they fell to the Heat in a 4-1 2014 Eastern Conference Semifinals series. He served as an assistant coach for LeBron's Lakers from 2019-2021. In that era, the Lakers obliterated the opposition en route to the 2020 NBA title (which they won in a six-game battle with Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat). The next year, their Lakers club lost in six games to Chris Paul and the 2021 Finals-bound Phoenix Suns.
"Humor played a big part in the whole [Kobe Bryant/LeBron James relationship]," Coach Krzyzewski says now.
"Listen, I understand Kobe is serious as hell when it comes to work but, he wants to smile too, and he wants to feel accepted too," James says. We're then treated to some funny footage of LeBron teasing Kobe during practices.
"He's hilarious," Bryant said in a joint interview between the duo from around that time. "I mean, non-stop though. It don't stop!"
"But they just played off each other so beautifully, and you got two alphas in the prime of their careers that don't care who the alpha is [between them]," Boozer continues. "Very rare."
"They knew that a key to the team would be how their relationship was and how it was perceived by everyone," Krzyzewski says.
