“Kobe Bryant was a psycho when it came to Michael Jordan!!”: Gilbert Arenas tells an MJ-Kobe story that showed the true colors and similarities in both the legends’ personalities

Jordan-Kobe stories are some of the immortal tales in NBA’s history, former Wizards star Gilbert Arenas remembers one such story from back in the day. 

Along with being two of the best to ever play the game of basketball, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are arguably the players with the toughest mentality in the NBA, ever. Kobe grew up idolizing Jordan, even structuring his game around “His Airness”.

Barely anyone thought that the 13th pick of the 1996 Draft would become the closest thing there is to MJ in years to come. But the way he played the game since coming in, made it clear to everyone that the Mamba was indeed the next Jordan.

Also read: “I had 17-points against Kobe Bryant in the first quarter but was benched the entire second half”: Luol Deng on being called out for not playing defense on the Black Mamba

As the future 5-time NBA champion came in, Jordan was already a 4-time NBA champion and was en route to winning 2 more to complete his tally of six. Kobe would chase those numbers for the next 20 years but end up one short.

The Lakers superstar completed his 3-peat to start the 2000s, it was around the time “Flight Mike” was hovering around the end of his career in a Wizards uniform.

Although Mike secretly admired Kobe, he was always hostile whenever he was face to face with the youngster. There’s an incident from a Wizards-Lakers match from the 2002-03 season that gives a glimpse of both their personalities.

Gilbert Arenas talks Kobe Bryant being a psycho when it came to Jordan

Former Washington Wizards all-star, Gilbert Arenas, remembers a story that Luke Walton told him. During a regular-season game between the Wizards and Lakers in 2003, Jordan walked up to Kobe and said, “you can wear the shoes, but you could never fill them.” Kobe was wearing a pair of Jordans which made MJ make the remark.

“I guess during that time Kobe didn’t say anything to anybody. So for like two weeks, they said, ‘Kobe was just mute.’ Like he didn’t talk to his players, didn’t talk to his teammates, just he was like in focus mode. It was straight like practice was just so intense. The players are like, ‘Yo, is he mad at us? Did we do something to him?’” said the former Wizards point guard.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson then told his players about the spat between his former and present best players in the league, “’No no no no, Jordan told him, when we played him, you could wear the shoes but can never fill them…’ And that’s the game where Kobe had like 55 points.” Arenas continued.

Also read: “A lesser player than Michael Jordan would’ve been suspended by David Stern”: Former Nike executive was skeptical that the Bulls legend’s gambling scandals would be his undoing

Responding to Kobe being a ‘psycho’ when it came to Jordan, “Agent 0” said, “Yeah he is. Everyone at the top is. You don’t get to the top being normal. You don’t get to the top thinking normal.”

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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