Kobe on LeBron: 'He wants to get a championship back to Los Angeles'

Opponents throughout their NBA careers, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James now are on the same side. 

Bryant sees James' arrival as a way to bring back the Los Angeles Lakers' winning tradition, one that's been missing since he led the team to back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010.  

"The NBA does better when the Lakers are at their highest potential. And for the city of L.A., it's important for us to have that star power," Bryant said Monday on 570 AM in Los Angeles.

"Look, Jerry was here. Elgin Baylor was here. Wilt was here. Magic was here. Kat was here. Shaq. Myself. Now, let's carry it forward again, right? You've got LeBron here now. It's his turn now. Hopefully he can -- which he will, he'll take this franchise back to its prominence, man. So I'm excited. I bleed purple and gold." 

James provided an exclamation point to the offseason's biggest question when he agreed Sunday to a four-year, $154 million deal with the Lakers -- a team that went 35-47 last season and finished out of the playoffs for the fifth consecutive time.

All things Lakers: Latest Los Angeles Lakers news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

"We all rallied around each other to try to help our organization be successful. So I think Bron certainly understands the pressure, certainly understands the level of expectations," Bryant said Monday on ESPN2.

"He wants to get a championship back to the city of Los Angeles, and we're all here to help him do that."

James and Bryant do have some experience in winning championships together. They were both members of gold medal-winning U.S. teams at the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012. 

"We've known each other for a long time, man. It's always been kind of that brotherhood there," Bryant told 570 AM. "It goes back to our first time playing together at the Olympics. For him now to be a part of this Laker family, it's big. Once you put on that golden armor, man, it's like you become a part of this culture. You become a part of the history."

Contributing: Tom Schad

Follow Gardner on Twitter @SteveAGardner and Schad @Tom_Schad