Greatness recognizes greatness.

Moments after Usain Bolt won the 200-meter final Thursday night in the Summer Olympics for his eighth career gold medal, he hit the Rio crowd and the many more watching at home with "The Silencer" as a tribute to LeBron James.

King James, two months removed from leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA championship, loved Bolt using his famous celebration move on the world's biggest sports stage.

Although Bolt thought he could clock a faster time than the 19.78 seconds he finished with to win the 200-meter gold, he easily won the race.

If anything, the world's fastest man's use of "The Silencer" was fitting, considering critics wondered if he had lost too much of a step to be dominant before these Rio Olympics.

Bolt, who will turn 30 this weekend, definitely shut them up, securing an Olympic triple-double of three consecutive gold medal wins in each of the 100-meter and 200-meter finals the past three Summer Games.

He could end his prolific Olympic career Friday night with nine career gold medals by helping to lead Jamaica to victory in the 4x100-meter relay.

The world's fastest man tipping his hat to the best basketball player on the planet was pretty special.

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