Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are legends in the basketball world. As two of the greatest players the game has ever seen, many of their old teammates still tell stories about who they were both on and off the court.
In the case of Kwame Brown, he had the rare opportunity to play with both Jordan and Kobe during his career, giving him a rather unique perspective on how they compared to each other.
Speaking on the B High ATL podcast, he explained that, while they shared many similarities, there were some notable differences.
“On the court, they are the exact same personality, and in the locker room, Kobe couldn’t do what MJ did. I don’t know how MJ was able to move around without security. You could see MJ in the local casino, a local bar with this little short guy. Kobe, on the other hand, not so much, and I didn’t get to see him on a personal side like that. It’s almost like Kobe studied MJ cause they were so similar in practices and when we went for dinners, but that is about that. MJ is just a regular dude; he is a regular guy that can hoop.”
According to Brown, Jordan seemed to enjoy other interests, which included golfing, going to bars, and gambling at the casinos.
While Kobe no doubt participated in those activities as well from time to time, it seems he was way more focused on keeping to himself and working on his game. At the very least, he seemed to be more personal and private about his non-basketball-related activities.
It’s interesting to see the differences there, even if it doesn’t really matter in the long run. No matter what they did or didn’t do behind closed doors, they were the best at what they did and nobody is taking their careers for granted.