When the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors clash at the Staples Center on Tuesday, one of the greatest scorers of his generation will get a close up look at the player who is quickly becoming the face of a new era of NBA basketball.

Kobe Bryant, long one of the most feared talents in the NBA, and the lowly Lakers (8-27) play host to the reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry and the unshakeable Golden State Warriors (32-2). Bryant is questionable with a shoulder injury while Curry is expected to play his second consecutive game after returning from a shin injury on Monday.

The Western Conference stars have not developed a heated rivalry during their time together in the league, but that might be more fitting since the two are more similar than they are different.

This season notwithstanding, Bryant has averaged 25.2 points, 4.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game in his 19 NBA seasons. In comparison, Curry has averaged 21.6 points, 6.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game in his first six full seasons.

Thirty-two games into this season - his seventh - Curry is averaging 29.7 points per game, 6.3 assists and 5.5 rebounds. He is shooting a lethal 51 per cent from the field, 44 per cent from three-point range and 90 per cent from the free-throw line.

In his seventh season in 2002, Bryant averaged 30 points per game, 5.9 assists and 6.9 rebounds. He shot 45 per cent from the field, 35 per cent from long range and 83 per cent from the line.

As Bryant did when he burst onto the NBA scene, Curry has established himself as a scoring machine, or assassin, as Bryant is often affectionately referred to.

“It’s weird because it’s the same edge and killer instinct in him,” Warriors interim coach Luke Walton, who won two titles with Bryant, said.

“Steph, you can see when he gets it, and he wants it, which is the exact same as Kobe. They just go about it in a different way. But he’s got that killer instinct in him. He wants to put that team away.”

Killer instinct led Curry and the Warriors to the franchise's first NBA championship in 2015 and a 24-game win streak to start this season. It's that same instinct that carried Bryant to five titles, two Finals MVP and one regular-season MVP award.

If the phrase "real recognize real" carries any weight, then Curry has already proven himself in the Black Mamba's eyes.

After the Warriors' Game 2 win over the Houston Rockets in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs last May, Bryant took to Twitter to answer what is now known as the #curryriddle.
 

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Simply put, the tweet is a ringing endorsement from Bryant and a notice to the rest of the league that an all-time great believes there is little anyone can do to stop Curry.

And if anyone would know, it's Kobe.

Bryant has scored 60 or more points five times in his career, including an 81-point performance - second all-time - against the Toronto Raptors in 2006 when Curry was 17.

Curry has yet to hit the 60-point plateau, but he has surpassed the 50-point mark on three occasions, including a career-high 54 points in 2013.

Where they do differ is the way they approach the craft. While Bryant has long rubbed his opponents the wrong way, Curry does his job with a smile on his face.

"Kobe will tell you, 'I'm about to kill you,'" Warriors forward Draymond Green told the San Jose Mercury News in November. "Steph won't tell you. He's just going to kill you."