Unlike Phil Jackson, who coached Michael Jordan before Kobe Bryant and often outlined the similarities in tenacity and toughness, new Lakers coach Mike Brown couldn't lump his former superstar LeBron James and Bryant together if he tried.

"There's just a different feel to the two guys," Brown said.

It was clear from what Brown suggested that there's a harder edge to Bryant (and even James' contemporaries Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant) that James still lacks.

"LeBron is a guy who is still learning and still growing, and the reality of it is that being down there with Dwyane Wade has helped him," Brown said. "They're different personalities. LeBron, he's a guy who likes to laugh and joke. He knows obviously there's a time to be serious, but he's youthful.

"Kobe is not as much. Kobe's more serious-minded and so on and so forth. But Kobe knows how to have fun in his own way, too."