LeBron James Discusses His Viral Dunk Resembling Kobe Bryant

LeBron James threw down one of the best dunks of the year on Thursday against the Houston Rockets.

The move resembled a vintage Kobe Bryant highlight in identical fashion, causing fans to erupt with speculation that James did it intentionally to honor Bryant. ESPN asked James about the move after Saturday night’s win over the Warriors.

“Ever see the movie The 6th Man?” James responded. “Kobe came down, put himself in my body and gave me that dunk on that break.”

The 6th Man was released in 1997 and stars Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison as brothers, but when Wayan’s character dies, he appears as a ghost to help Hardison on the basketball court.

“I didn’t really predetermine that either until I jumped,” James said. “I just jumped and kind of figured it out, and then … it’s crazy how it’s the same exact dunk, the same exact hoop that Kobe did [it on] — what, 19 years ago or something like that? That was nice.”

The highlight resembles a dunk Bryant landed on Nov. 18, 2001, against the Sacramento Kings.

“It’s crazy, it’s crazy,” James added. “To now [have it] be a part of my history between that correlation between me and Kobe, that play, I think it’s pretty, pretty, pretty awesome. I’m glad I did it in a Laker uniform.”