Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West indicated that the bond between Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant was tight enough that Bryant made an effort to stay in almost constant contact with Jordan.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne looked at the Jordan-Bryant friendship from the vantage point of West, the person who helped bring Bryant to the Lakers when he was the team’s general manager in 1996. From there, West got a glimpse of Bryant’s reverence for the former Chicago Bulls star.
“West was close enough to both men to know that Bryant would text and call Jordan at all hours of the night,” Shelburne wrote. “He knew they met for lunches and dinners — but not golf, because hell no, Bryant didn’t golf — when Jordan was in Los Angeles.”
That bond between Bryant and Jordan was severed when Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people were killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26.
Nearly one month later, Jordan was one of the speakers at the elder Bryant’s public memorial at Staples Center. Offering an emotional tribute to someone he called his “little brother,” Jordan also referenced the frequent communication noted by West.
“He used to call me, text me 11:30, 2:30, 3 in the morning,” Jordan said. “At first, it was an aggravation, but then it turned into a certain passion. This kid had passion like you would never know.”
The connection between the two players saw the elder Bryant absorb every bit of advice offered by his mentor.
Jordan’s public comments about his close relationship were a rarity for the private Hall of Famer, but have taken on more prominence as ESPN continues with the Jordan-heavy documentary on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, “The Last Dance.”
Following the elder Bryant’s death, he was posthumously elected into the basketball Hall of Fame and is scheduled to be inducted on Aug. 29. Jordan is a virtual certainty to be in attendance at what figures to be a highly emotional event.
