Michael Jordan On Kobe Bryant After Playing Against Him For The Last Time: “Kobe Is The Star Of The Future… If He Maintains A Certain Mental Approach, He Can Become A Great Professional Basketball Player.”

Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were incredibly similar players. Both Jordan and Kobe were athletic shooting guards who were also gifted scorers. The two legends didn't actually play in the league at the same time for too long. And their respective peaks came at very different points in their careers. But Jordan knew just how good Kobe could be, even when he was just 20 years old.

Kobe Bryant played against Michael Jordan for the last time when Jordan was a Chicago Bull in 1998. Jordan had an excellent game against Kobe, who had become an All-Star for the first time. After the game, Jordan had a lot of kind words for Kobe, noting that he could become a superstar like him because he had the talent, but needed to have the drive and focus to achieve his goals.

"Kobe is the star of the future. You see similarities in his game as well as my game. If he maintains a certain mental approach, he can become a great professional basketball player."

Michael Jordan taught Kobe a lot of things, including his signature turnaround fadeaway, something MJ regretted teaching him, but also appreciated how Kobe executed. Michael Jordan even had an off-camera conversation with Kobe Bryant, with Kobe going at him during a discussion about who would have won during their respective peaks.

Kobe and Jordan had their first iconic showdown at the 1998 NBA All-Star game, as Kobe decided to challenge Jordan, and Jordan responded by putting on a performance for the ages and ended up winning All-Star game MVP. Kobe and Jordan became friends that day, and Jordan would become a mentor for Kobe. MJ admitted that he initially found Kobe annoying, but he eventually came to respect his drive.

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Shaquille O'Neal says Dennis Rodman was his worst teammate: 'He was a great player, but he made it hard'

Shaquille O'Neal played for six franchises over a 20-year NBA career. That's a lot of teammates. Speaking on The Big Podcast with Shaq, the four-time champion and Hall of Famer revealed which one of those teammates was the worst. "Worst teammate? Dennis Rodman," O'Neal said. "He was a great player, but he made it hard. Like when you try to corral the guys together and the people above you [are] letting this one guy do whatever he wants. So we had to be there an hour before the game. He'd come in fifteen minutes before the game eating chicken and rice. While the coaches are talking, he would jump in the shower. Cold shower. Come and give you 15-20 rebounds." O'Neal played with some characters in his time. We know about his beef with Kobe Bryant, who we know wasn't always the easiest teammate to get along with, though Shaq has long expressed regret over the way he and Bryant handled their relationship as young superstars, and eventually, he ...

Bill Russell Once Explained Why He Didn't Bother With Celtics Fans: "When I Was A Star, The Fans Called Us The 'Boston Globetrotters' Because The Celtics Had Black Players."

While the NBA is a beacon for freedom and tolerance in America, things didn't start off that way. In a place like Boston, during the 50s and 60s, racial tension was a pretty serious problem, and superstar big man Bill Russell had to deal with it on a game-to-game basis. Today, it can be hard for us to imagine just how difficult being a black basketball player really was back then. Fortunately, we have some clips: "The number one paper was the Boston Herald and they didn't like the idea of an NBA team having black players. Out there, the star was Bob Cousy. No matter what I did, Cousy was the star. I remember I had a game where I had 25 points, 25 rebounds, 10 blocks, and the Boston Herald said I was lucky to play with Cousy." Unfortunately, the media didn't give Russell his respect back then. Despite being the best player on the court, and on his team, Cousy and others always got the spotlight. Even the fans weren't very accepting of Bill: "I didn't...

From Deep: At long last, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets can envision getting to the top of the mountain

Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Leading up to that night, he'd been playing at an All-NBA level for two months: In a 25-game stretch, Murray averaged 24.1 points on .509/.459/.935 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was even more efficient than he was in the bubble playoffs, and his defense had improved, too. Murray only got to play with Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets' big trade-deadline addition, for five games. They won them all except the one in which Murray got injured. In 110 minutes, their new starting five scored slightly more efficiently than any iteration of the Kevin Durant-era death lineup in Golden State and defended like a top-five team. Two Nikola Jokic MVP awards later, Murray is back. So is Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year extension about a year ago and needed back surgery nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nuggets remember how easily everything slid into place with Gordon in the mix. Newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pop...

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