Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant’s championships had one thing in common, their coach. Phil Jackson coached the 2 two GOATs, winning 11 championships in his coaching career. Being one of the greatest coaches of all time, he often mentions similarities between Jordan and Bryant. Michael was like a mentor to Kobe, he would give him advice on his game and how he could get better.

Both the players completed at least one three-peat with coach Jackson. No matter how great MJ was, Kobe wanted to be greater than him. In his initial year, Kobe was dominant on the offensive end, and Phil wanted Bryant to be more patient.

Kobe Bryant denies Michael Jordan’s advice with a challenging statement

After Michael Jordan’s second retirement, MJ visited LA to watch Phil’s Lakers play. Phil saw the opportunity and asked Michael to give Kobe a little advice. In that game, Kobe took over and in the end led his team to a win. While Phil was aware of Kobe’s abilities, he wanted him to be more patient, so as to allow the team to be smooth offensively.

After the game, Michael went to the chairman’s room with Phil and Kobe. To Jordan’s surprise, before he could start talking to Bryant, Kobe said, “I could kick your a** one on one.”

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Bryant was ambitious and competitive, and when Jordan had retired, he had to let him know. While Michael couldn’t do much, he had to listen to Kobe’s words.

Kobe proved his talk when he played Michael Jordan the next time

After almost 3 years of his second retirement, Jordan came back to play for the Wizards. In Michael’s last game against Kobe, he faced Bryant’s wrath. Kobe dropped 55 versus the Wizards, waving Jordan while he would retire at last after that season.

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After 4 years, Kobe finally had a chance to back up his trash talk, and he did pretty well. Michael did the best he could, as he scored 23 points in that game.

It is interesting how Michael came back after retiring 2 times, yet he still managed to perform decently at age 38 to 40. Being one of the greatest to ever play, Jordan passed the torch to Bryant in their last duel.