Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant, Neymar and Lionel Messi may each have legions of fans, but the superstars are big fans of each other, too. That all-star fandom was particularly evident this week when the group couldn’t stop complimenting each other on TV and social media.

The reason Bryant got a lot of love is obvious. After announcing his retirement on Sunday in a poem reminiscent of Michael Jordan’s famous retirement letter to basketball, athletes from all over thanked him for his contribution to the sport. Messi’s was one of the most high profile, and not only because he put it on Instagram where he has more than 30 million followers from around the world. It was also because he credited Bryant with getting him to love basketball.

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Speaking of Messi’s 30 million Instagram followers, Steph Curry had some compliments to dole out to the 28-year-old Argentine about that popularity on Thursday. In a short video, he also offered tickets to a game for Messi and held up an autographed jersey with the number 30 on it.

Curry’s hair looks nice, doesn’t it? Neymar sure thinks so! On Wednesday, he gushed over the Golden State Warriors star’s look and said his current hairstyle is modeled after the 27-year-old’s.

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“I hadn’t used that hairstyle since 2009,” Neymar told Brazil’s Globo (via CBS Sports). “Stephen Curry style.”

(Albert Gea/Reuters)

Eh, close enough. Much closer than the nearly 6,000 miles of land and ocean that separates Spain from California. Despite the distance, though, this chumminess between Spanish soccer and West Coast basketball has been going on for years. Need proof? Well then we might as well complete the circle and have Kobe show us.
That’s Neymar in the lower left. And who can forget this ad from 2013?

“I have been following the side for 10 years,” Bryant said this summer when Barcelona traveled to Los Angeles for an exhibition game, revealed during a meeting with the players at the StubHub Center in Los Angeles. “I love watching Messi, [Andres] Iniesta and the rest of the squad.”

Bryant said he hasn’t yet had a chance to watch Barca at their hometown stadium Camp Nou, but says it’s one of his lifelong dreams. Seems worthy of a post-retirement trip, right?

Kyrie Irving still wants his 1-on-1 game with Kobe Bryant

Back in the summer of 2012, Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving was on the national select team that scrimmaged against the Team USA Olympic basketball team. Fresh off his rookie season, the opportunity gave Irving a valuable opportunity to be around some of the best players in the world, including one of his childhood idols, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.

“I challenged Kobe one-on-one and the video kind of went viral,” Irving said. “From that point on, every time we played since I was a rookie, I was just trying to earn his respect. Guys that have come before me, I never forget their groundwork -- even guys that have come before Kobe that allowed him to leave a legacy on this game that will last forever.”

“Never came up,” Irving said. “I think I would do it now though. He would still go at me and it would be good.”

Irving and Bryant formed a quick bond, and a video of Irving challenging Bryant to a game of one-on-one went viral. In the video, Bryant claimed Irving should call his father and ask if he thought it was a good idea to play Bryant one-on-one for $50,000, while Irving claimed Bryant would have to play defense, which he said Bryant couldn't do. The two then agreed to play one-on-one in the summer of 2013.

The game never happened, though, because Bryant tore his Achilles in April 2013. Still, that hasn't stopped the two from staying in contact and becoming better friends, given their mutual respect and admiration for each other's offensive game and competitiveness, according to ESPN:

Though Irving says the one-on-one game hasn't been rediscussed yet, with Bryant set to retire at the end of this season, Irving wants the matchup NBA fans have been waiting years for:

The ball's in your court, Kobe.