“Michael Jordan, show me why they call you Black Jesus!”: When Lakers’ rookie Kobe Bryant matched up against His Airness for the first time in the NBA

A rookie Kobe Bryant wasn’t afraid to take on the league’s big bad bully Michael Jordan and he explains why

Kobe Bryant was drafted at the #13 spot, straight out of high school. Coming into the league, Kobe just had one goal. He wanted to become the best player in the league, and he wasn’t shy talking about the same.

The biggest baddest person in the league, when Kobe joined was Michael Jordan. So, as expected, Mamba wanted to gain MJ’s attention and respect. As a high school player in Philadelphia, Kobe often used to talk and practice with the Sixers players. When he asked them how to defend MJ, they all shrugged and called him the ‘Black Jesus’.

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All the praise about Jordan had Kobe all hyped up about facing him in person. The first time they did face off on the court was on 17th December 1996, with the Bulls hosting the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant wasn’t scared to face Michael Jordan, instead, he was excited

Entering the league, Kobe looked up to MJ and was always looking forward to facing His Airness on the court. Recalling his first matchup with Jordan, Bryant said,

“I don’t shy away from confrontation. I wanna go out there and I wanna guard Mike… The hype of going up against him was like hmm, okay. I watched you play my whole life, show me. Everyone calling you Black Jesus, you gotta show it to me!”

When a young Kobe Bryant faced Michael Jordan, he accepted the challenge.

Instead of shying away from that confrontation, he looked forward to that confrontation. pic.twitter.com/BjprAKcuCi

— Kobe Highlights & Motivation (@kobehighlight) March 17, 2022

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After the game, Kobe shared that MJ even gave him advice, something which was quite uncharacteristic about Jordan. Well, I guess His Airness sensed the killer mentality present within the Mamba, and saw a younger version of himself, striving to get to the top of the mountain.

After that, whenever they faced off against each other, there were fireworks guaranteed. Even though Kobe and MJ had a close relation, they never went easy on each other on the court.