Kobe’s last battle with LeBron

“We can’t help who we are,” Kobe Bryant once said, in a semi-serious conclusion to a playful post-news conference exchange, and that observation was never more relevant than in his final matchup with LeBron James on Thursday night.

Kobe Bryant and LeBron James go head-to-head for the 22nd and final time Thursday night.

It wasn’t even a battle for current supremacy, because LeBron moved past Kobe years ago, and the multitude of injuries to Bryant kept Kobe from getting back into that conversation.

Kobe came out firing, taking twice as many shots as LeBron in the first quarter (6-3), while LeBron had more assists in the first quarter than Kobe had all game (3-2).

“Kobe and LeBron are just wired differently, something LeBron recognized back in 2006 when he told ESPN The Magazine that he wasn’t like Kobe in that he didn’t have the desire to ‘just kill everybody.'” Kobe and LeBron are just wired differently, something LeBron recognized in 2006 when he told ESPN The Magazine that he wasn’t like Kobe in that he didn’t have the desire to “just kill everybody.” I relayed that quote to Kobe after I saw it, and Kobe wondered why LeBron would ever say something like that publicly.

I always felt that LeBron benefitted from an up-close look at Kobe’s searing intensity in their time together on the 2008 Olympic team, and Kobe realized he would be better off incorporating some of LeBron’s ability to incorporate his teammates.

Kobe Bryant finished with a game-high 26 points in his final battle with LeBron James.

Even while falling short in last year’s NBA Finals, LeBron won more playoff series in 2015 than Kobe has won in the past five years.