Kobe Bryant idolized Michael Jordan when he was growing up and basically copied every single one of his moves.
So, when Jordan once showed up to the arena to watch Bryant play, Kobe was keen to impress his idol, as per Phil Jackson.
“I always remember a game in which Michael Jordan was in retirement,” Jackson said. “And he came to the game, and I think Kobe had like 40 points first half. I turned to the coaches, and I said Kobe knows Michael’s in the stands. He’s just showing him who he is.”
“He wanted to put on a show for Michael. That part irritated me about Kobe, this was one of his younger type things where he went off the edge and said, ‘Here, you want to look at this? See how good I am?'”
It is no surprise that he wanted to show his idol just how good he is. Bryant also went at Jordan the few times they got to play each other, and their last meeting saw him drop 55 points. Jordan did still have the edge in stats in their head-to-head meetings, but Bryant did manage to win five of his eight games against MJ.
Kobe gets compared to Jordan so often because of how similar they were, and there are quite a few who think that he was greater than MJ. A career comparison of the two, though, shows that Jordan does come out on top over Bryant, and there is a reason why he is widely regarded as the GOAT.
Phil Jackson Revealed What A Young Kobe Bryant Told Michael Jordan During Their First Meeting
Jackson is one of the few people that Jordan has been close to over the years, and once after his retirement, he went to a Lakers game. Jackson requested that MJ talk to Kobe to tell him to be more patient and allow the game to come to him.
When the three of them met afterward, Jackson revealed that Kobe’s first words to MJ were, “I will kick your a** 1-on-1.” He was only 21 at the time, and it speaks to the confidence he always had in his abilities. It was a big reason why Kobe got to the top and managed to stay there for so long.
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