What LeBron James Should Learn from Kobe Bryant's Amazing Bravado

LeBron James is arguably the best basketball player on the planet, but what he has in talent, he lacks in other areas—mainly confidence and his need to be accepted and liked by people.

If LeBron develops that inner confidence and adds that killer instinct that he lacks at times, James could be next to unstoppable. To get that, though, LeBron could learn a lot from Kobe Bryant and the way he conducts himself on and off the court.

Bryant has what James lacks, and that's an amazing bravado that convinces him that he's the best player in the world. Even when he told ESPN recently that he doesn't have any rivals in the game today, that's just another way of him telling everyone, including himself, that he's the best.

He has this internal ambition and a self-motivation and drive to be the best.

Michael Jordan had that about him. So does Kobe. LeBron doesn't.

Bryant's bravado irks some. He's been known to tell people from time-to-time just how awesome he is, but he doesn't care what people think. Hate on him and it just drives him to be better.

James doesn't have that about him. When people hate on him, he responds with an "Everything's LeBron's fault" comment.

It's important for LeBron for people to like him. For Kobe, he takes pleasure in silencing the haters.

You can call Bryant's bravado whatever you want: a competitive fire, a killer instinct, the hatred for losing, Jordan-like, etc. It really doesn't matter because he has it.

James needs it.

To be as great as LeBron's talent says he should be, it's not about dancing around and having fun. It's about developing some of the inner qualities that Bryant has.

You would never catch Bryant dancing, or Jordan for that fact. It's about taking care of business. That's what separates guys like Bryant and Jordan from a guy like LeBron.

It's about wanting to stick the knife through the opposition's heart. Some guys want to do that. Some guys don't want to.

It's not about being able to, because James is certainly able to do so on any night. It's about that want to.

James fell under the microscope again Friday after putting up 35 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots against the Utah Jazz and helping to overcome an 18-point deficit. But he passed off to Udonis Haslem with the outcome on the line. Haslem missed a potential game-winning shot in the Heat's 99-98 loss.

LeBron also had the same thing happen in the All-Star Game.

It's not about making or missing the shot, because Bryant has missed his share of game-winners, but it's about that want to. Kobe wants to be in the highest pressure situations, and he's not afraid to fail.

LeBron hasn't shown an ounce of that yet.

With Bryant, he won't soften that edge about him. He has it in practice, shoot-arounds and the game. It's something that has driven him throughout his career. He can't turn it off.

That's what James needs to be truly great, and he can learn it from simply watching Bryant.