Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are two of the most popular basketball players to have ever played in the NBA. Kobe came into the league wanting to surpass MJ, who was also his idol. And in the process, he became a lot like him, with Ty Lue describing just how similar they were in a recent interview.
“No difference. Their will to win, their will to wanna kill you every single night and take your heart, their will to miss 9-10 shots in a row and think the next 10 are going in,” Tyronn Lue said on the Pivot podcast.
“Just that killer instinct, those two, I’ve never seen anything like it. Bron [James] is great… but those two were spitting images. Both 6’6, both with the frame they got, the athletic ability, the mid-post game, and the passing ability was they didn’t wanna pass as much.
“Because they wanna kill you. ‘I wanna get 50 every night,’ that’s their mentality… Kobe and Jordan, like listen, ‘I wanna win but I also wanna kill you and take your heart out every single night.'”
(starts at 25:29 minutes)
Tyronn Lue won two championships playing next to Kobe Bryant on the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000 and 2001. After his stint with the Lakers, he joined the Washington Wizards, where he played alongside Michael Jordan who was coming back from his second retirement. So he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to comparing those two players.
Kobe Bryant Always Wanted To Be Better Than Michael Jordan
With the benefit of hindsight, years after both their careers are over, people can say that Michael Jordan enjoyed a better career than Kobe Bryant. But when he was still around, Kobe Bryant thought he was better than Michael Jordan. Lamar Odom once revealed that he felt this way.
“He said he was better than Mike,” Odom said. “You gotta understand his drive. There ain’t too many dudes that played in the NBA and that really mean it in their heart, like… ‘I’m gonna be better than LeBron James.’ And that’s where he chased his whole life. To be just as good or mentioned with Michael Jordan.”
Kobe Bryant reportedly wore the No. 24 as a shot at Michael Jordan, to show that he was a step above him. It was this obsessive desire that drove him to become one of the greatest players to ever play the game. And while most wouldn’t say he became better than Michael Jordan, every NBA fan will admit that Kobe Bryant truly became a legend in his own right.
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