They would soon spend over the next decade competing for NBA championships. They would become arguably this generation’s best players at their respective position. They would demonstrate how two players can share the same competitive drive despite having glaringly different personalities.

But well before those qualities became part of their legacies, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and San Antonio Spurs forward/center Tim Duncan would first play in a game that hardly matched the future implications. It even pales to when the Lakers (1-7) will host San Antonio (4-3) on Friday at Staples Center.

Instead, this all started in 1997 when Bryant and Duncan filmed a Sprite commercial that pitted them one-on-one. Bryant was entering his second NBA season, while Duncan was a rookie exposed to the limelight he soon ignored.

“Just talking with him, you could tell we were polar opposites,” Bryant said, laughing, as he recalled the commercial shoot. “We have similar sarcasm. But for me coming out of high school and he has four years at Wake Forest, he was not saying much. I’m all over the place.”

Duncan doesn’t offer his version of events. When asked about what he remembered about the commercial shoot, Duncan said, “I don’t” before a recent interview soon ended. Duncan also declined to share what interactions he has had with Bryant in 14 joint All-Star appearances.

Still, Duncan characterized his relationship with Bryant as “cordial.” The Spurs’ five-time NBA champion holds Bryant and his five rings with the Lakers in high regard. Duncan also credited Bryant for averaging a league-leading 27.5 points per game after playing only six games last season amid injuries to his left Achilles tendon and left knee.

“He’s the ultimate competitor. He wants to win and wants to do well,” Duncan said of Bryant. “Seeing him come back from such a devastating injury to where he is now, good for him. It’s good to see him out there. You don’t want to see anybody down.”

Bryant returned the favor, saying there is “mutual respect” between the two players who have been part of 10 of the past 16 NBA championship teams. Yet, Bryant also sounded restless.

Duncan matched Bryant’s championship total after the Spurs’ 2014 NBA Finals victory over the Miami Heat. In what might become the final season of a storied 18-year career, Duncan could eclipse Bryant’s ring count this season.

“I want a crack at him,” the 36-year-old Bryant said of the 38-year-old Duncan. “I would love to play the Spurs in the playoffs one more time.”

Strength in stability

Bryant sounded nostalgic as he spoke those words. After all, Bryant’s Lakers won four of their six playoff series against Duncan’s Spurs. But Bryant’s dream does not seem realistic.

The Spurs’ main problem, says coach Gregg Popovich, is that “some guys might even still be enjoying the championship” from last season. Meanwhile, the Lakers finished last season with a 27-55 record, their worst mark in L.A. franchise history. The Lakers are last in the Western Conference and several defensive categories.

Conflicting perspectives around the league linger on whether Bryant’s two-year, $48.5 million extension signed last year contributed to this reality.

Duncan’s three-year, $30 million deal that expires this summer assured the Spurs retained veterans Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, while having complementary pieces such as Kawhi Leonard and a bench that averaged a league-leading 44.3 points per game.

But that does not equate the Lakers’ lucrative Time Warner Cable deal that San Antonio lacks in a smaller market. Nor does it account for the Lakers still having the ability to offer maximum contracts this summer to LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.

Instead, the indisputable difference involves Duncan’s unmatched stability in playing for Popovich through his entire career, while Bryant has played for seven coaches.

“I’m in a system that allows me to play well,” Duncan said. “With the kind of teammates I have and players we put together, it’s not just on one person’s shoulders. We can spread it out and continue to win.”

Bryant enjoyed that luxury when he teamed with Shaquille O’Neal during the Lakers’ three-peat (2000-2002) and with Pau Gasol on back-to-back championship teams (2009, 2010). All of those teams featured the steady presence of Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson and trusted confidant Derek Fisher.

In between those title runs, Bryant played with the likes of Smush Parker and Kwame Brown for one missed playoff appearance and two first-round exits. Bryant wondered aloud what would have happened had Jackson, Gasol, Fisher and Lamar Odom stayed on his team longer.

“I can’t express to you how much I’m jealous,” Bryant said of Duncan’s career stability. “I’ve been up and down.”

That remains an accomplishment in itself.

Popovich and Duncan point out they have never won consecutive championships. When told of the Spurs’ self-criticism, Bryant interjected, “I take comfort in the fact that we’ve been able to do that twice.”

How so?

Bryant then laughed and said, “I’m not giving up any tips.”

Maintaining longevity

The explanations for their longevity seem as routine as when Duncan hits a non-descript bank shot that has earned him the nickname “The Big Fundamental.”

“They don’t need any external motivation,” Popovich said of Bryant and Duncan. “They’re self-motivated and do what they need to do to stay on the court. They take care of themselves and they love the game.”

Yet, the ability to maintain that seems as difficult as one of Bryant’s dramatic game-winning shots.

ESPN NBA analyst and former Spurs guard Avery Johnson marveled at how Duncan vacationed for oly three weeks in the offseason before beginning summer workouts. Duncan lost 15 pounds last year in hopes a leaner physique could offset diminished athleticism and ensure healthier knees.

Although Popovich joked playing Duncan conservatively has “wrecked his stats,” Duncan has averaged less than 20 points per game because he has evolved from a post player into a facilitator to accommodate the Spurs’ faster-tempo offense that emphasizes outside shooting.

“You have to be adaptable and change and understand that you’re not able to do the same things across the years,” Duncan said. “I’ve done a decent job of doing that.”

So has Bryant.

Lakers coach Byron Scott has not played Bryant as sparingly as Popovich has played Duncan. But Bryant’s 35.5 minutes-per-game average is below the 38 minutes he averaged the previous two seasons before tearing his left Achilles tendon 1 ½ years ago. Although Bryant has shot a career-low 38.8 percent from the field, he has showcased a game that goes beyond a deliberative approach in the post.

“He has surprised me,” Scott said. “I shake my head some days watching how hard he continues to work and how much better he has gotten from training camp to now and how much more his legs seem to be getting stronger.”

Add it all up, and whose legacy is better? Bryant’s or Duncan’s?

“It’s equal,” Scott said. “Kobe is going to go down as one of the greatest shooting guards. Tim Duncan is one of the greatest power forwards.”

Yet, Bryant seems aware championship hardware could further dictate this debate, leaving him equally envious and respectful of Duncan’s resume.

“As a competitor, yeah, you want to have the most. But at the same time, it’s well deserved,” Bryant said of Duncan’s five championships. “He’s a quiet competitor. I wear mine more on my sleeve. But he has the same competitive fire that I do.”