Former NBA player Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has sparked comparisons to Kobe Bryant after a viral clip showed him making several on-court moves that social media users likened to a left-handed version of the late basketball icon.
The FIBA Basketball World Cup shared video of Hollis-Jefferson, a small forward for the country of Jordan in the tournament, that shows him swiftly moving around defenders, nailing jumpers and fighting his way to the basket in a 92-71 loss to Greece on Saturday.
“Kobe must be watching this, smiling. 🥹,” the tournament wrote alongside the clip on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Hollis-Jefferson, who played six seasons in the NBA before beginning his career overseas in 2021, has a number of eerie similarities to the Los Angeles Lakers great.
He’s rocking Bryant’s No. 24 in the tournament and, as SB Nation noted, he’s listed at 6 feet, 6 inches tall and 217 pounds — almost the same size as Bryant in his prime.
The player is a native of Chester, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Chester High School. Bryant was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Lower Merion High School, which is roughly 30 minutes away from Chester.
Hollis-Jefferson also put up 24 points in Jordan’s loss to Greece on Saturday, just two days after Kobe Bryant Day in Los Angeles.
One social media user mirrored the viral video to make it appear as if Hollis-Jefferson was right-handed, which is how Kobe shot the basketball.
Other users weighed in on footage, with one claiming Hollis-Jefferson had been “watching Kobe film all summer for this moment.”