Jelani McCoy had a front-row seat to Kobe Bryant’s rise to superstardom. While on the Forgotten Season’s Podcast, the former Laker recalled his experience watching Kobe turn Jordanesque during his first three-peat in the early 2000s. Talking about Kobe’s effort to replicate Michael Jordan, McCoy told his interviewer, “On the bench, players used to tap each other, and they used to say “Mike” every time he did something like Jordan. Whenever he chewed his gum…when he did the turnaround, people would tap each other, and say “Mike”. So there was a Mike count.”
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During the podcast, McCoy revealed that Kobe Bryant used to play along with narrative but soon proved everyone wrong when the time came,
“this mfer was really getting close to some Michael Jordan shit”.
After winning his first Championship, Kobe added two more (2000, 2001, 2002), completing the first three-peat since MJ’s Bulls back in 1998.
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Jelani McCoy would play alongside Kobe during the 2000-2001 season. During that time, Kobe had just won his first Championship in LA, silencing most of his doubters. But even so, Kobe still carried the tag of being an “MJ impersonator”.
However, Kobe credited Jordan for his achievements and said that he would never have won five rings. In fact, during the docuseries ‘The Last Dance’, Kobe even touched on this very topic, telling the interviewer,
“He’s like my big brother… I truly hate having discussions about who would win one-on-one. You heard fans saying, ‘Hey, Kob, you beat Michael one-on-one.’ I feel like, yo, what you get from me is from him. I don’t get five championships here without him because he guided me so much and gave so much great advice.”
“I don’t get five championships here without him.”#TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/RLcN0gmDrv
— ESPN (@espn) May 4, 2020
The brotherhood of Kobe and MJ
Michael Jordan didn’t have a sibling that quite resembled him, in size or mentality. But that doesn’t mean Jordan wouldn’t find a little brother, later in his life. Kobe Bryant entered the league, straight from High School during the 1996-97 season.
From the jump, Kobe had made it clear that he aimed to be the greatest. Thus, to be the greatest you must learn from the greatest. Though MJ didn’t like revealing his tricks to anyone, he did so for Kobe. Kobe would often pester Jordan late into the night, sometimes phoning the Jordan residence at 3:00 AM. But this maniacal drive to win is what attracted Michael to Kobe. In Kobe, Michael saw his younger self.
During an interview with SportsCenter, back in 2020, Michael Jordan gave Kobe Bryant the ultimate nod. On being asked about his dream 1v1 list, Jordan took the names of Kobe, Kareem, LeBron, DWade, and many other legends. Jordan proudly confessed that he wouldn’t take a single loss, but also added something else,
“I don’t think I‘d lose, other than to Kobe Bryant because he steals all of my moves.”
To be called the only player capable of beating Michael Jordan is quite the accolade. Among all the greats, Kobe has stamped his place on the Mount Rushmore of the basketball. Though gone too soon, Kobe and his Mamba mentality will always live on in future generations of hoopers.
