While Jordan and Bryant never played on the same team, they did face off against each other several times early in Bryant’s career – during Jordan’s final seasons with the Bulls and during his brief return to the NBA with the Washington Wizards in the early 2000s.
At the memorial service for Kobe Bryant on Monday, Michael Jordan called the Los Angeles Lakers legend a “dear friend” who was “like a little brother.”
Jordan said it might come as a surprise to some, but they were very close friends.
“What he accomplished as a basketball player, as a businessman and a storyteller, and as a father – in the game of basketball, in life, as a parent – Kobe left nothing in the tank. He left it all on the floor,” Jordan said.
Kobe and Michael Jordan: from competitors to brothers
Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Mamba pic.twitter.com/7OFOVFE8D4
— Kobe Highlights & Motivation (@kobehighlight) May 14, 2021
