Last summer, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson took the basketball world by storm with a game — and a face — that eerily resembled the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.

This summer, the man whose moment under the spotlight earned him nicknames like “Lefty Kobe” and “Kobe Clone” will unfortunately not get an opportunity to make a splash in the world’s biggest basketball tournament.

Hollis-Jefferson, a 29-year-old practicing Muslim from the United States, has played pro ball all over the map, and in his spare time he plays for Jordan’s national team.

Representing the Muslim-majority Middle Eastern nation in 2023, Hollis-Jefferson was a breakout star at the FIBA World Cup. While his team went 0-3 in pool play, Hollis-Jefferson averaged 27.6 points per game, which included a 39-point effort in an overtime loss to Australia, and a 20-point line in a blowout loss to the star-studded U.S. squad.

The 6-foot-6 left-hander’s explosive scoring ability and slick moveset — as well as the way he looked — drew immediate comparisons to Bryant, the Hall of Famer whose path crossed with Hollis-Jefferson once in the NBA; during Kobe’s final season and Hollis-Jefferson’s rookie season of 2015-16, the two shared the court in a game between the L.A. Lakers and Brooklyn Nets. Kobe had a team-high 18 points in the Lakers’ victory; Hollis-Jefferson had a team-high 11 rebounds for the Nets.

Hollis-Jefferson, a first-round draft pick (23rd overall) out of the University of Arizona, went on to play six seasons in the NBA with the Nets, Toronto Raptors, and Portland Trail Blazers. His best season in the league saw him average 13.9 points and 6.8 rebounds for the Nets in 2017-18. His first overseas experience came in Turkey in 2021; he’s proceeded to play for teams in Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the Philippines. While he entered the pro game lauded for his defense and athleticism above anything else, Hollis-Jefferson has refined his offensive game — in particular, improving his jump shot — over the years and transformed himself into a lethal scorer. Case in point: he averaged 30 points per game during a 2023 stint in the Philippines.

Last year, Hollis-Jefferson gained citizenship in Jordan and suited up for the national team at the World Cup. However, Jordan failed to make the field for the qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

While he won’t be vying for an Olympic medal this summer, there is one thing Hollis-Jefferson could get instead: an NBA roster spot. Last year’s FIBA performance put his name on the radar and created a buzz among the public that RHJ deserves another shot in the NBA. With his revamped game and accumulated experience overseas, the well-traveled veteran could find himself trying out his best Kobe impersonation on Kobe’s old stomping grounds.