Reggie Miller went on the Dan Patrick Show in 2014 and said that Michael Jordan on his worst day is 10 times better than Kobe Bryant on his best day.
Coming into the league as an 18 year old straight out of high school, there weren’t all too many expectations placed atop Kobe Bryant’s shoulders. However, in merely his sophomore season with the Los Angeles Lakers, not only did he make an appearance in the All-Star Game, but did so by squaring off against Michael Jordan and leading the West in scoring.
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Comparisons to Michael Jordan were plentiful as both were 6’6 shooting guards who looked to operate in the mid-range for the most part. Though Kobe showed several flashes of being the second coming of the Bulls legend, it was only after Jordan had retired that the ‘Black Mamba’ had become a fully actualized version of himself.
Kobe Bryant displayed several key characteristics that were eerily similar to Michael; everything from their approach towards the game, the way they actually played the game, and several other factors in-between.
Reggie Miller does not hold Kobe Bryant in the same regard as Michael Jordan.
In an interview with Dan Patrick on his show in 2014, Reggie Miller was asked a question: Who’s harder to guard, Kobe or Mike? Miller, without hesitation, chose the 6x champion over the 5x champion and had an interesting analogy to back this opinion up.
“No question. Michael Jordan on his worst day was 10 times better than Kobe Bryant on his best day and that’s not short-changing Kobe because he gave me my lunchpail too. Michael on his worst day, I will take over Bryant on his best day,” said Miller.
He did go on to praise Kobe Bryant at length for passing Jordan on the all-time scoring list so it wasn’t as though Reggie was siding up for ‘His Airness’ all throughout the interview. Reggie Miller has said on a separate occasion that he hated Kobe for beating him in the 2000 NBA Finals, not allowing him to capture a single title in his 18-year long career.
