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“I don’t have friends!”: When Kobe Bryant shared the nature of the competitive relationship the Black Mamba had with His Airness, Michael Jordan

Amulya Shekhar
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"I don't have friends!": When Kobe Bryant shared the nature of the competitive relationship the Black Mamba had with His Airness, Michael Jordan

Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan were more than just bosom friends. They shared a brotherly bond between the both of them, as Jimmy Kimmel found out.

Kobe Bryant is one of the paragons of sporting excellence, irrespective of whichever background you hail from. This is a guy who let nothing come in the way between him and paramount success.

He put in work when the midnight oil was burning, when no one was looking. When everyone would denounce a normal guy for getting up at ungodly hours and practicing, Kobe would be out there hunting.

He’d get the mannerisms of Michael Jordan down – right to the last detail – by the time that he retired. And when he was done, the world would applaud him for the 60-piece he put up against all odds, playing the Utah Jazz.

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It is tough to get the work ethic and the driving factor behind the Black Mamba’s success. Not everyone on this planet can relate to the standards of excellence and hard work that he set for himself.

But Michael Jordan was one of the few who was able to do it. That’s the reason why Kobe Bryant would affectionately address His Airness as his big brother when he went on The Jimmy Kimmel Show.

When Kobe Bryant stated that he has no friends on the Jimmy Kimmel Show

Kobe Bryant was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live a few years before his untimely death in a helicopter crash. The Black Mamba was one of the more poignant guests on the show, revealing details about his own career in free flow.

One thing he said to Jimmy that struck them the most was about how he had 0 friends in real life:

“Uh, do I have friends? No, I have no friends. Yeah, no (friends)! Zero. I hate people!”

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When asked about his bond with Michael Jordan, the Lakers legend responded:

“He’s a good mentor, he’s like a big brother. I’ll (speak to him) every once in a while. He tries to compete with me all the time.”

“The last time we had dinner, he was talking about, you know, my year in 1991 versus your peak year in 2003. [I would’ve kicked your a**]. I said ‘Mike, come on now, enjoy the salad! We both know that’s not going to happen.”

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About the author

Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar

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Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically.

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