‘The Last Dance’ documentary will continue on Sunday, with episode 5 and 6 airing tonight. The fifth episode of the docuseries will start with a special dedication. “In loving memory of Kobe Bryant,” the former Lakers star who passed away in a fatal helicopter crash in January.
This episode will feature Kobe, of course, and he will make an appearance in it. It was revealed that a week before his death, Kobe had finished recording his interview for the documentary. We’ll get to know more details about the relationship between MJ and KB.
Talking with Arash Markazi of Yahoo Sports, Magic Johnson, another former Laker, revealed what he thinks this episode will bring to people since the relationship between Kobe and Michael was really close.
“It’s going to mean a lot to a lot of people, especially [in Los Angeles], and it’s going to mean a lot to Kobe fans,” he said during a recent interview. “They’re going to need this. Nobody is past what happened. It will mean something to them and all of us who are Kobe fans and Lakers fans.”
Episode 5 will focus on the midway point of the 1997/98 NBA season, where Kobe played his first All-Star game and Michael his last with the Bulls.
“You could see the beginning of this special relationship that was going to take place and start forming then,” Johnson said. “Kobe respected guys but it was different [with Jordan]. He idolized Michael in a way that was different from anybody else.
“It was like, ‘Man, I’m trying to be like you but I also want to show you what I got in this All-Star game too.’ I loved the fact that I was there and I could witness it just like Larry [Bird] and I witnessed during the [1992] Olympics, how we were passing the torch to Michael. Some things you never forget and that was a moment I’ll never forget — the torch being passed.”
Magic revealed the details of the relationship between Kobe and Jordan, a bond that almost nobody knew about until Jordan spoke during Bryant’s memorial service in February.
“Both of them never talked publicly about it but I think they could understand each other,” Johnson said. “Kobe wanted to go get to that level. That’s what he always told me, ‘I want to be like you and Michael, not only on the court but I want to be like you guys off the court.’ That was one of the last things Kobe told me. He was chasing those six championships and he always wanted Michael’s respect.
“Kobe didn’t have a lot of friends but he really had a good friend in Michael. I think they could go to [places in] conversations that nobody could go to, in terms of on those levels. He knew that Michael really cared about him and vice versa, Kobe really cared about Michael.”
MJ looked at Kobe like his little brother. The respect was always mutual 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Wbv1ocgu2i
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 3, 2020
They two were really close, with Kobe calling MJ his big brother and Mike calling the Black Mamba his little brother. They are two of the greatest players of all time. They did a lot of great things during their active days and they shared plenty of similarities in their games. We all know how important Kobe and Jordan were for the game of basketball. Now we’ll learn how important they were for each other’s lives.
