LeBron James and Kobe Bryant Reportedly Had One Final Phone Conversation Saturday Night Before Tragic Death

The entire basketball world sat on the edges of their seats to see one legend pass another. On Saturday, in Kobe Bryant's birthplace of Philadelphia, LeBron James passed the Los Angeles Lakers legend for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. That night, after the game, Bryant was commemorated.

Now he is memorialized.

However, after LeBron's touching postgame speech about Bryant, the two apparently shared a phone conversation together, with other Lakers listening in. It would be the last time they would hear Bryant's voice.

Kobe and LeBron shared a special bond, as James idolized Bryant when he was a young basketball player, and he soon after would be battling him for NBA supremacy. The two would remain good friends and got even closer when James joined Bryant's former team two offseasons ago.

James paid a heartwarming tribute to Bryant after passing his scoring mark on Saturday night, but now his monologue takes on a whole different meaning.

Out of respect for the players who looked up to Bryant and the organization which housed his talents, Tuesday's Lakers-Clippers matchup has been postponed in order to help with the grieving process.

In a terrible past 48 hours for the basketball world, every postmortem detail seems to twist the knife even deeper.