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The highlight reels of past NBA Finals series are loaded with marquee matchups between the greatest players ever to step on a basketball court.

Bill Russell versus Jerry West, Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan versus Charles Barkley are three notable examples.

One mouth-watering matchup that hasn't happened and, barring a miracle won't ever happen, is Kobe Bryant and LeBron James squaring off on the game's biggest stage.

Bryant announced earlier this week he will retire at the end of this season, closing a 20-year career that includes five NBA titles. His Los Angeles Lakers currently are 2-14 and headed for just their seventh lottery pick in 35 years. Unlike the James' Cleveland Cavaliers, who sit atop the Eastern Conference standings, the playoffs are not a realistic goal for the Purple and Gold.

So, who's to blame for the lack of Kobe vs. LeBron championship series? James puts it on himself.

"I didn't hold up my end of the bargain in 2009 for the fans, for us, to meet in the Finals," James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin on Tuesday. "I know the world wanted to see it. I wanted it, we wanted it. He held up his end and I didn't hold up my end, and I hate that. I hate that that didn't happen."

James and the Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the 2009 Eastern Conference playoffs. They lucked out not having to play the defending champion Boston Celtics -- who had eliminated Cleveland in 2008 and 2010 en route to NBA Finals matchups with the Lakers -- but the Cavs couldn't advance past the Orlando Magic and lost in a six-game conference finals series.

The 2009 squad probably was James' best Cavaliers team before he re-joined the team last season and led it to the Finals.

"Obviously there was so much made about it, from commercials to media talk, to people just talking about the Lakers versus the Cavs, Kobe versus LeBron, Kobe versus LeBron, Kobe versus LeBron, but I couldn't do that to my teammates to kind of assume," James told ESPN.

"That's not my job. I've seen the stat that since '07 either he has or I've been in the Finals, but we've never matched up. And that definitely sucks. Not only for us two being competitors, wanting to go against each other in the Finals, but also for the fans."

James and Bryant are never going to compete against each other in an NBA Finals. Instead, we might have to settle for an annual June battle between James and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.

Most basketball fans would be OK with that, though.

Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images