People for a long time thought Kobe and Jordan were rivals when in reality they were very close friends.
You saw some of that in the Last Dance and when Jordan spoke at Kobe’s funeral. Jordan will be presenting for Kobe at this Hall of Fame induction and the tears will be flowing.
He addresses their relationship and the last texts he received from Kobe.
On Dec. 17, 1997, at the United Center, a 19-year-old Kobe Bryant bounded off the bench for the Lakers and scored 33 points in 29 minutes. Jordan, suitably impressed, sought out the second-year player after the game to compliment him. Bryant immediately began peppering him with questions about shooting release points. The conversation was brief, but warm. “If you ever need anything,” Jordan told him, “just call …”
Kobe did. Again, and again, and again. Sometimes at 2 o’clock in the morning. Sometimes before the sun came up. Bryant wondered about Jordan’s turnaround jump shot, how to create misdirection, the best way to ward off bigger, stronger players in the post. In later years, the questions involved endorsements, the quest for privacy, advice on how to manage their shared need not just to beat someone, but to break them. Kobe made no secret of his goal: It was to be like Mike, or, if possible, to be even better.
Maybe that explains why Kobe’s number — along with that final text — remains on Michael Jordan’s phone.
“I don’t know why,” he says, “but I just can’t delete it.”
That is totally understandable.
Flip the page for Kobe’s final text to Jordan.