You can use a lot of moments to describe the relationship between Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. First, they became mentors and students and then friends for life thanks to sharing the same passion for basketball.
They considered each other brothers and they proved that every time they had the opportunity. One of those was when Kobe asked MJ help to get in the best shape and reach new levels with his game.
Tim Grover, the former trainer of Jordan, was the one selected to help the Black Mamba. It was Jordan himself who told Kobe to reach out to Grover. During a recent edition of FS1’s Undisputed, Grover recalled how Bryant found out about him.
Via Essentially Sports:
“In 2007 Kobe actually reached out to Michael and said, ‘listen, I’m having a lot of issues with my knees and he goes you got any recommendation?’ And Michael said, ‘listen this is not what I do, but I’m not using Grover anymore.’ He said, ‘Why don’t you give him a call?’”
This is curious knowing that Jordan wouldn’t give this recommendation to anybody else but he was retired and this was Kobe Bryant we’re talking about. So things were different when it came to the Black Mamba (4:15).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qpjhu9rfxs
“It was funny because when Michael was playing, he would always say, ‘listen I don’t pay Grover to train me. I pay him not to train anybody else.’”
“You know the relationship and the work ethic that MJ saw in Kobe. He said, ‘This would be a perfect fit.’…’Why don’t you give him a try?’ I flew out to LA. We talked about some things and he explained to me what was going on. He introduced me to the members of his personal performance team and we made some adjustments there.”
After that, Kobe really took off, having a second youth with the Lakers. He took them to win two more NBA championships, finishing his career with five rings and Grover played a significant role.
It’s not a secret that he owns a lot to MJ, and this is another case where the Chicago Bulls legend helped Kobe improve his game and reach the next level.
