Featured Image Credit: NBA YouTube/Getty
Topics: Michael Jordan, NBA, Basketball
Marcus Chan
Michael Jordan did not hesitate when picking out the one NBA star who could beat him in a one on one.
During his stellar career, Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls and the Washington Wizards, claiming the NBA title on six occasions.
His influence can be felt on and off the basketball court as he is often regarded as one of the greatest NBA players of all time.
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Since retiring from the sport, Jordan developed a partnership with Nike on his Air Jordan trainers, which has become one of the most recognisable brands in the world.
Speaking in an interview more than 10 years ago, Jordan was asked which player he would want to have a one on one with, the American picked out the late Kobe Bryant as someone who could've beaten him.
He said: "If I was in my prime, who would I want to play one on one with? That's list is very long. I'd start off with Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant in his prime, LeBron in his prime, D Wade in his prime, that's a good start.
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"I don't think I'd lose, other than Kobe Bryant, because he steals all my moves."
Bryant tragically lost his life at the age of 41 along with his daughter Gianna and seven other people in a helicopter crash in 2020.
Back in his playing days, it was revealed that Jordan once made Bryant so mad that he didn’t speak to his teammates for two weeks.
According to former Washington Wizards player Gilbert Arenas, Jordan annoyed Bryant after a match in which Jordan won whilst Kobe was wearing ‘Jordan 8’s’.
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It is believed that Jordan said to Bryant after the match: “You can wear the shoes but you’ll never fill them.”
Arenas said, as per Essentially Sports: “So what happened next is, during that time after Kobe got, so Kobe didn’t say anything to anybody. So, for like two weeks they said, Kobe was just mute.
“Like, he didn’t talk to his players, didn’t talk to his teammates. Just, they said he was in a, like, focus mode. Like it was straight. Like practice was just so intense. Right? So, the players were like, ‘yo is he mad at us? Did we do something to him?’”
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Arenas added: “And then Phil(Jackson) was like, ‘no, no, no, no, no. Jordan told him, you can wear the shoes but you can never fill them.’ And they were like, ‘oh sh*t, when do we play them again?’ They were like, ‘yeah we play them in a few days.’ And that’s the game when Kobe had like 55.”