Magic Johnson Reveals Secret Kobe Bryant Ritual He Follows to Honor Lakers Icon

Kobe Bryant’s spirit is alive in every corner of Los Angeles. Vibrant murals adorn city walls, August 24 is celebrated as Mamba Day, and the 19-foot bronze Kobe Bean Bryant Memorial Statue stands proudly outside the Crypto.com Arena, commissioned by Vanessa Bryant to honor his legacy. His impact continues through charities, foundations, personal tributes, and now a Warner Bros. movie titled With the 8th Pick. So, it’s no surprise that even Magic Johnson has his own special way of keeping the Black Mamba’s memory alive.

Magic Johnson recently shared, as posted by CTG Sports on Instagram, how he keeps Kobe alive. He said, “People don’t know this so I’m gonna tell this for the first time. Every time I go to a corporate speaking engagement, every time I speak, I don’t care where I am. I make the crowd clap at the end. I say, ‘Can you clap 8 times and then point up in the air for Kobe Bryant?’ And that’s what they do—three, four, five, six thousand people clap, and they all point up to Kobe. That’s how I end all my speeches.”

“Kobe was just a special man,” Magic once said, showing how close they really were. His admiration wasn’t one-sided, Kobe often looked up to Magic and modeled parts of his game after him. On the podcast, Magic shared how Kobe told him, “Magic, I wanna be like you and Jordan. See y’all dominate the basketball, then you dominate business, I’m going to do the same thing.” He added that Kobe studied the game and the legends before him relentlessly. That dedication paid off, both on the court and off.

In 2013, Kobe Bryant took a bold step beyond basketball by co-founding the venture capital firm Bryant Stibel with Jeff Stibel, the founder of Web.com. This firm became a major platform for expanding Kobe’s business reach, turning him into a savvy entrepreneur. By 2020, CNN reported that Bryant Stibel managed assets around $2 billion, with some standout investments like BodyArmor. The firm made millions when Coca-Cola acquired the sports drink company in 2018, proving that Kobe’s business instincts were as sharp as his on-court moves.

Bryant Stibel also leveraged Kobe’s strong connections with China, partnering with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. This collaboration brought huge returns, especially through the sale of Kobe Bryant-related products. Overall, the firm had at least ten successful exits, including investments in Dell and Alibaba.

Even before Bryant Stibel, Kobe had built a significant sneaker empire with Nike and partnered with global brands like McDonald’s, Nintendo, Sprite, and Turkish Airlines, cementing his legacy not just as a basketball icon but as a business powerhouse, like Johnson and Jordan. But Kobe was similar to Jordan in other ways as well.

Kobe Bryant was ‘the closest thing’ to Michael Jordan

Magic Johnson has never held back when talking about Kobe Bryant, and when he compares him to Michael Jordan, he doesn’t sugarcoat it. “Kobe admired, respected Michael Jordan in such a way that he patterned his game after Michael’s. Kobe is the closest thing to Michael that we’ve seen. Why? Because he can score that basketball just like Michael Jordan. He had the same mindset and attitude just like Michael Jordan.”

Both were ball-dominant shooting guards, both played under Phil Jackson, and both racked up multiple championships—six for Jordan, five for Kobe. Magic sees it not just in how Kobe played, but in his killer instinct, his relentless drive, and the way he could mentally and physically dominate opponents like MJ.

Kobe Bryant scored more total points in his career, 33,643 to Michael Jordan’s 32,292, but Jordan averaged more points per game—30.1 to Kobe’s 25.0. In the playoffs, Jordan dominated with 33.4 points per game, compared to Kobe’s 25.6, and also pulled down more rebounds (6.4 vs. 5.1) and assists (5.7 vs. 4.7) per game.

Steals and blocks were higher for Jordan too, both in the regular season and playoffs, showing his all-around impact. Kobe played more seasons (20 vs. 15) and more games, but Jordan won more MVPs (5 vs. 1) and led the league in scoring 10 times to Kobe’s 2. Field goal percentages also favored Jordan (.497 vs. .447), though Kobe shot slightly better from the free-throw line. Despite the differences, both had 9 All-Defensive First Team selections, highlighting how close they were in talent and dominance (stats as per Land of Basketball).

Even before he was a teenager, Kobe Bryant was modeling his game and mindset on Michael Jordan. As a 12-year-old in Philadelphia’s Sonny Hill Future League, he went an entire summer without scoring and felt like he was letting his basketball family “down to shame.” Instead of giving up, he thought about how his idol had faced setbacks: “I learned that [Michael Jordan] had been cut from his high school team as a freshman; I learned he knew what it felt like to be embarrassed, to feel like a failure,” Kobe recalled.

Inspired, he vowed, “But he used those emotions to fuel him, make him stronger, he didn’t quit. So I decided to take on my challenge the same way he did.” Kobe’s dedication paid off, and he grew into one of the greatest players of all time, forming a bond with Jordan that lasted his whole life. Speaking at Kobe’s memorial, Jordan said, “When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died,” showing the depth of their connection.