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USA coach Mike Krzyzewski has a soft spot in his heart when it comes to Kobe Bryant. The feeling is mutual.

Krzyzewski has known Bryant for almost two decades, after all, and though Bryant blazed a trail by skipping college and going directly to the NBA back in 1996, had he gone to school, it would have been at Duke. And back in 2004, when the Lakers were reeling after the departure of Phil Jackson, it was Bryant who pushed the franchise to make a lucrative offer to Krzyzewski, who ultimately decided to stay in Durham.

Olympics and again now in ’12, the two have confirmed what they sort of knew all along—they have a lot in common.

“We have known each other since he was 16, so I think he trusted me enough at that time that if he had gone to school, he would have come to Duke,” Krzyzewski said of Bryant. “So we have kept up that relationship, and we’re good friends. The other thing he knows we both share is that we both want to win again and again, so there is a commitment to winning championships. When you find other people who want to do that, those are good relationships.”

For those of us—admit it, you were one—wondering what was wrong with Bryant over the five games of pool play here in London, and for more than half of Wednesday’s 119-86 quarterfinal win over Australia, Bryant gave a stretch in the second half that just might put all our fears to rest, and will justify Krzyzewski’s dedication to his starting shooting guard.