Kobe Bryant was one of the best basketball players ever and his admiration of Michael Jordan was on display for everybody.

The late Kobe Bryant frequently discussed the significant impact Michael Jordan had on his professional life. Though Bryant looked up to many NBA greats as a child, he primarily modeled his game after Michael Jordan.

Kobe’s respect for Jordan’s style of play eventually developed into a methodical approach that would come to define his own playing style and career as a student of the game. With time, Bryant’s quest to emulate “His Airness” evolved from a simple imitation to a careful examination of the six-time NBA champion’s general work ethic and methodology.

In the process, Bryant and MJ grew closer, making Bryant the closest thing to the greatest of all time.

Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan

“Michael in particular, he’s become my big brother; he’s been my big brother since I first came in the league,” the Los Angeles Lakers legend said in an interview in 2019. “What was that process like? I went to them and started understanding the ins and outs of the game, how they approached things in their level of detail and obsessiveness, and that’s what I did.”

Bryant knew full well that emulating Jordan would not be easy. He painstakingly went through Michael Jackson’s tapes, spending many hours analyzing every one of his idol’s performances. By doing this, “The Black Mamba” realized that other aspects of his life had to be put on hold.

Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

Nevertheless, Kobe underlined the significance of being prepared to make sacrifices. For Bryant, being able to watch and take in was not enough to reach the pinnacle of success and become as great as Jordan was. Above all, it was about being steadfastly committed. Luckily for Kobe, channeling Jordan had only made him more excited due to the pressure involved.

“The players that had that passion but weren’t willing to commit their entire lives to doing that… it’s a choice. You have other things… family, all these other things you have to do… the game really can’t be your No. 1 priority. I was just looking at that, like, man, this is going to be fun,” the 18-time NBA All-Star explained.

Though there will never be another Jordan, Bryant did a fantastic job of imitating his role model. Although it was undoubtedly due to Kobe’s obsession, the man in question thought that studying under Mike needed more than just a desire to be the best.