DeRozan, Kobe have Twitter lovefest

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

DeMar DeRozan and Kobe Bryant have some serious respect for one another.

The Toronto Raptors star took to Twitter on Wednesday to show off his fancy new basketball from Spalding:

S/O to @Spalding for sending me one of their balls celebrating the 125th anniversary of the invention of hoop. #TrueBelievers #125HoopYears pic.twitter.com/YwhaYB2CMy
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) December 21, 2016

He wasn't done there, though. The sporting goods company sent DeRozan a second limited edition ball, which the Compton, Calif. native gifted to the man he grew up idolizing:

.@Spalding gave me another #125HoopYears ball to send to someone I think impacted the game, so I had one sent to @kobebryant. #TrueBelievers pic.twitter.com/dI8I01q1cR
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) December 21, 2016

The Black Mamba, who retired at the end of last season, thanked DeRozan and provided some words of encouragement for the NBA's current master of the mid-range game: