Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan will always be compared to one another as they’re two of the best pure scorers to ever play in the NBA.
Bryant is currently only 127 points shy of passing Jordan for third on the all-time NBA scoring list, but he recently said he doesn’t even care about possibly eclipsing His Airness for that particular accolade.
The Lakers guard recently opened up to Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding in an interview. He touched on many different topics, and began by talking about how great it was to begin his career in the NBA during an era which featured many elite players—Jordan included.
“It was great for me,” he said. “I was looking forward to that moment, him being the pinnacle of who I was looking forward to playing against most. At the time I came into the league, all the golden greats were still there—Clyde Drexler, [Hakeem] Olajuwon, [Charles] Barkley, [Gary] Payton, Anfernee Hardaway, John Stockton. These guys were still doing their thing. It was a huge honor for me to match up with all of these guys, see them up close. […] I’m not scared of anybody. It’s more curiosity and such a respect that I want to learn. I want to learn. I’m so curious to learn—still to this day. Just a constant learner. I’m not afraid to ask questions about things that I don’t know. I’m not afraid to admit what I don’t know. I’ll ask questions and try to learn as much as I can.”
Bryant also said Jordan was like a big brother to him. He postulated that Jordan may have opened up to him more than he did with other players because Kobe was more direct and upfront than they were.
“We hit it off very well,” Bryant said. “He was really like a big brother, and whether it’s because we see things in a similar way in terms of our competitive spirit or fire or whatever the case may be, there’s an understanding that we have—a connection that we have. I don’t know if he opened up with me more than he did with other players, I’m not sure. I don’t know if other players had the balls even to ask. But we have a really, really good relationship.”
Kobe also addressed the misconception that he learned everything he knows from Jordan.
“The thing that I always bristled at was the notion that I learned everything that I know from Michael,” he said. “That’s just not true. Hakeem Olajuwon deserves a lot of credit; Jerry West deserves a lot of credit. Oscar Robertson deserves a lot of credit. I really was a student of the game and watched everybody. […] I’ve always welcomed the comparison to Michael if it’s in competitive spirit or in terms of records that I may set. I’ve always been cool with that. To be in that kind of company is…is…is…crazy, for lack of a better term. Rare air.”
It’s great to see that two of the fiercest competitors in NBA history have such strong respect for each other.