Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant exchange shoes after game (Photo)

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant and Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant exchanged shoes after Thursday’s game.

Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant have been two of the greatest players of their respective generations. The two friends faced off on Wednesday night, when the Oklahoma City Thunder went on the road and absolutely thrashed the Los Angeles Lakers.

While it was a one-sided affair between the two teams, both Bryant and Durant always try to bring out their best on the court when the two face each other. With Bryant in his final season and set to go out, he’s passing the torch onto guys like Durant in the league.

After the two faced off against each other on Wednesday night, both Bryant and Durant exchanged shoes after the game. Bryant even left a special message for Durant on his shoes.

After the two exchanged shoes, Durant told Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver about the shoe exchange between the two.

"“Yeah, don’t tell nobody though, man,” Durant said. “I don’t want to be looked at as a softie.”"

The two players have always had a great deal of respect for each other and it’s one of the rare basketball friendships between greats that extends off the court. With Bryant retiring soon, it means that the game will be losing one of the all-time greats to ever play.

It also means that it’s time for someone else to step up and become one of the most lethal shooters in basketball. Durant is already one of those guys and Kobe’s message to him after they exchanged shoes, shows who he thinks it will be as well.