Nick Anderson on how close Kobe Bryant came to matching Michael Jordan's legacy

Throughout the career of the late great Kobe Bryant, he was constantly compared and contrasted with Michael Jordan, the player he was most similar to. People used to ask, especially when he was younger, if he could match or even exceed Jordan's greatness or legacy.

Most agree he didn't quite get there, but some feel he came extremely close. One could strongly argue that Bryant was, indeed, the second coming of Jordan, albeit a less physically gifted and perhaps less fortunate version of His Airness.

Jordan is still considered by many to be the greatest player in NBA history. Former Orlando Magic guard Nick Anderson, who developed a friendship with him, was asked by Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson to compare the legacies of Jordan and the Los Angeles Lakers legend.

“Kobe was a foot from being in the door," Anderson said. "A half a foot. Did you hear when MJ gave his speech at his memorial; that Kobe would call him 24/7 picking his brain?”

During Jordan's career, he often dismissed challengers to his throne with humorous but sadistic one-liners. But when Bryant once asked him for some pointers during a game in the late 1990s, he was glad to help.

At Bryant's memorial service in 2020, he even said the "Black Mamba" was like a little brother to him and that the two were "very close friends."

Bryant ended up winning only one fewer NBA championship than Jordan did, and he's still the NBA's all-time leading scorer among all guards. The way that Jordan was truly devastated by his passing and spoke so glowingly of him at his memorial is a measure of how much he was revered among true ballers.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Nick Anderson on how close Kobe came to matching Michael Jordan