Magic Johnson has explained why Michael Jordan should be compared with Kobe Bryant and no other player. Jordan is always part of the GOAT conversation and he’s widely considered the best basketball player of all time, but he often gets compared with the current Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
Magic, a former Laker, joined ESPN’s ‘First Take’ to explain why Kobe is the ‘closest’ comparison to Jordan instead of LeBron or any other player. Kobe appeared in episode 5 of Jordan’s docuseries ‘The Last Dance’ on Sunday, explaining the relationship he had with His Airness, with Magic explaining all the similarities they had both on and off the court.
“Let’s go to on the court first. Kobe admired, respected Michael Jordan in a special way that he patterned his game after Michael. Kobe is the closest thing to Michael that we’ve seen. Why? Because he can score that basketball just like Michael Jordan. He had the same mindset and attitude just like Michael Jordan, he took no prisoners, he wanted to just put his foot on your neck and wanted to destroy you, mentally and physically, just like Michael Jordan and he wanted to have six championships, like Michael Jordan. He got close, he got five, but he never got that sixth championship.
“Off the court, he wanted to build his business just like Michael Jordan, and you know what? He was getting there, too. Kobe was doing an outstanding job as a businessman, and he was taking the run that Jordan took off the court. He was building his own brand at the same time and I believe that’s why Kobe and Michael really enjoyed each other because they went to places very few athletes go, where they were world-famous, where they were able to build a successful brand and company. They were able to win championships and then they were able to do something special on the basketball court that we haven’t seen no other players do. They had the same mindset and so that’s why they got along off the court.”
Magic is not wrong with his words. Both Jordan and Kobe admitted they had a close relationship and they recalled that last Sunday during ep. 5 of ‘The Last Dance’. Kobe even said everything the fans got from him, they got it from Michael, calling MJ the biggest responsible for his five NBA rings.
The similarities are there; these players were almost the same and Kobe will always be the closest comparison to Jordan.
