Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are two players who are well known for having similar playstyles, with both players being three-level shot creators that were particularly proficient from the midrange area. While Kobe Bryant definitely looked up to Michael Jordan, the two were fierce competitors on the court as well.
A recent Tweet (that is now deleted) revealed that Kobe Bryant has won 5 of 8 head to head matchups against Michael Jordan. There is no doubt that facing his role model on the court brought out the best in Kobe Bryant. Bryant once famously said “Michael Jordan can’t stop me” when referring to their 1v1 matchup, though he did state that he wasn’t trying to say that he could stop Jordan.
While Kobe Bryant did win 5 games out of 8, those numbers don’t necessarily tell the whole story. Only 2 of those wins came against Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls in his prime. The other 3 came from Michael Jordan’s time with the Washington Wizards, a time where Jordan was clearly not at his peak. However, it is certainly impressive for Kobe Bryant to have a winning head-to-head record against the widely acknowledged GOAT of basketball.
Four of those meetings, and three of those wins came w/ MJ wearing a Wizards uniform. https://t.co/CsObp4aWYr
— BC (@SpookByTheDooor) September 7, 2021
Playing against Michael Jordan isn’t easy, and to have a winning record against him is much harder. Even during their first meeting, Michael Jordan went hard on Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant revealed that during that game, Jordan was “dunking the ball” before Bryant could even figure out “what the hell happened”. There is no question that Kobe Bryant could hold his own though, and that he remained a competitor throughout his life, emulating Jordan. During a conversation with Jackie McMullan of ESPN, Michael Jordan shared the details of Kobe Bryant’s last text to him, which featured Bryant talking about how the team he was coaching was blowing out the opposing team 45-8. Jordan notably believed that this text showed Bryant’s competitive nature.
The two players will always be compared to one another simply due to their relationship and similar playstyle. However, even if Kobe Bryant didn’t become as accomplished as Michael Jordan, he built his own legacy in the NBA. Kobe Bryant is forever immortalized among the minds of fans and players, and he is certainly among the top-tier in the pantheon of greats.
