"Waiting for Kobe Bryant to walk up" - Justin Gatlin reacts to iconic photo of Michael Jordan and LeBron James hugging each other

By Soumik Bhattacharya

Modified Sep 13, 2024 14:33 GMT

Five-time Olympic medalist Justin Gatlin recently commented on a post featuring Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

The picture shared in the post was from the 2022 All-Star games where the 75th anniversary of the National Basketball Association (NBA) was also celebrated. The post showed Jordan and James embracing and welcoming each other with smiles.

It was a really celebrated moment for basketball fans as two of the greatest players to ever grace the planet - Michael Jordan and LeBron James - shared a heartwarming and respectful moment. Justin Gatlin, too, being an ardent basketball follower, channeled his inner fan and shared a comment on the post shared by the ESPN official Instagram handle.

Gatlin stated in his comment that he absolutely loved the moment between the two NBA greats and also mentioned that the post is making him remember the two-time Olympic medalist Kobe Bryant (passed away in 2020). He wrote:

"Love to see this! Makes me miss Kobe even more."

Gatlin comment screenshot (Image via: ESPN Instagram)

He further added:

"Waiting for Kobe to walk up"

Gatlin comment screenshot (Image via: ESPN Instagram)

Gatlin has been a huge fan of Bryant and had also revealed earlier that the basketball player has had immense impact on his growth as a track and field athlete.

Justin Gatlin opens up about Noah Lyles' plethora of choices in the 2025 track and field season

Justin Gatlin at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha (Image via: Getty)

United States track legend Justin Gatlin recently opened up about 100m Olympic champion Noah Lyles' future endeavors at the 2025 track and field season. This came during a recent episode of his Ready Set Go podcast.

In his podcast, Gatlin remarked that Lyles would have a difficult choice during the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on whether to defend both of his 100m and 200m titles or just a single one of them.

During the conversation, Gatlin also suggested the 27-year-old focus mostly on the 200m events in the coming years. He said (at 58:50):

"He was the world champion in the 100 meters and backed it up by being Olympic champion, and is also 200 meters champion. He has run 19.30. What do you do now? Do you defend your 100-meter title alone or the 200, or do you go for both?"

He further added:

"I think personally, I would like him to take that route of what 19.3 and beyond looks like."

During the podcast, Gatlin also mentioned that Lyles will not have any spare time after the Olympic season and will need to get on with the preparations.