Episode 5 of The Last Dance, dedicated to Kobe Bryant, starts on February 8, 1998 in New York, for the last All-Star Game of Michael Jordan, but also the first of the young Laker, the youngest All-Star in history.
In one of his last interviews, the five-time NBA champion tragically disappeared in January praised the importance of his « big brother » in his career:
« I grew up watching Michael on TV. And here I had the chance to face him in person. It’s a chance to see, touch, feel the strength, the speed, the quickness. It was fun to be on that field.
[…] My first two years in the league were not easy, at that time the players were much older, it wasn’t as young a league as it is today, nobody thought much of me. I was the kid who threw the airballs (in the playoffs against the Jazz the year before, 4 airballs in 5 minutes). At that point Michael gave me a lot of guidance. I had a question about his turnaround shot, so I asked him. He gave me a great detailed answer. But on top of that he said, ‘If you need anything, call me. He’s like my big brother. I hate to argue about who would win between me and him in a one-on-one match, when some fans say, ‘Kobe, you’d beat Michael in a one-on-one match. But hey, what I do, it comes from him. I wouldn’t have won five titles without him, because he guided me so much, he gave me so much good advice. » Kobe Bryant
