Kobe Bryant was one of the fiercest competitors the game of basketball has ever seen. The 6ft 6″ guard could never stand to lose, and put his mind, body, and soul into perfecting his craft. His drive for excellence, and the determination to be the best helped Kobe become a 5x NBA Champion.
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Drafted in 1996, Kobe came into the league at a time when it was absolutely dominated by Michael Jordan. While everybody else in the league was terrified of the Bulls superstar, Kobe was instead fascinated. He wanted to be the best, and in order to become so, he needed to know what the best player does.
While others hid away from His Airness, Kobe made MJ his mentor and big brother. This one move turned out to have a huge impact on Kobe’s career, and for the better.
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Kobe Bryant on Michael Jordan and the GOAT conversation
One of the conversations that always goes around in every NBA fan’s head is the GOAT conversation. Everyone has their own GOAT player, and as a fan, we always want to know who the other person’s GOAT is.
This conversation isn’t only limited amongst fans, as even players are asked the same questions. Once, Kobe was asked if he would consider himself the GOAT ahead of Michael Jordan. The Mamba replied and said,
“I will never say I am better than Michael. In all honesty, he taught me so many things, by observation, and also through conversation. It’s a bit of an unbalanced comparison too, because when he came to Chicago, he was able to do things individually that I didn’t have the freedom to do, coming to Los Angeles. I came in playing a support role for Shaquille, which was very hard for my personality to do. That would be like asking Michael to do the same thing. Our careers tracked on different paths, but I would never ever say that, just because I learned so much from him.”
Kobe learned a lot of things from MJ, from his basketball moves, to things about life in general. It’s wonderful to see that despite a stellar career of his own, Kobe would’ve never put himself ahead of the man who taught him so much.
High School Kobe wasn’t afraid of Michael Jordan
As a high school kid in Philadelphia, Kobe sometimes used to go and workout with the 76ers. Once in the lockerroom, he asked the players to tell him about Michael Jordan. He called MJ ‘Mike’ which surprised a lot of Sixers players.
“I used to work out with the 76ers, I used to ask them, what’s it like to guard Mike? They were like, ‘Mike? You mean ‘Black Jesus?’ I’m like, ‘what the f–k? Black who?’ ‘We call him Black Jesus or you can call him Black Cat. ‘I’m gonna call him f–king Mike. That’s his f–king name.’ So the level of fear that he inspired in others was insane. And I would tell him, I said when I face him, we’re gonna go at it. ‘Sure, you don’t want to do that.’ I’m like, ‘what? Man, you don’t know me, man.”
Well, Kobe not only wanted to be like Mike, but also beat him and take the title of the best player from him. In order to do so, he couldn’t be afraid of His Airness. Mamba knew that right from the time he was still in high school.
