It is no secret that Kobe Bryant molded his own game around Michael Jordan, perfecting his moves, taking on the same persona, studying every single aspect of his game, mirroring his killer mentality – Bryant obviously was more than just a copy of Jordan, but watching him on the court was truly reminiscent of the Bulls legend.
This greatness and the mutual respect for one another is what brought the two legends close.
But when they still were playing against each other, that respect and friendship had to move aside, due to their competitiveness. Jordan’s former Bulls teammate BJ Armstrong shared a brilliant story that highlights this competitiveness. It was at a dinner party where Jordan and Kobe discussed ‘virtual’ basketball.
“They couldn’t help but turn on the competitive spirit and they just had this virtual dialogue.
They were just saying how the game would be played if they caught the ball here. I just remember well ‘If I catch the ball on the left wing with the live dribble how would you defend me?’
The detail, that they were going over these abstract ideas, that’s what really caught my attention. ‘How you gonna catch the ball?’ Who asks those questions? ‘What’s your pivot foot’, ‘What’s the score of the game’ and then they just did this in all these different places. ‘How would you defend me if I had it here?”
