Magic Johnson on Kobe: 'Closest thing we've seen to Michael Jordan'
Magic Johnson played with and against Michael Jordan. He's been around Kobe Bryant's entire career. He says Kobe is the closest we've seen to MJ.
By
Zach Harper
•
2 min read
There will always be a debate between the biggest fans of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers against other fans around the NBA on whether or not Kobe should be in the same conversation as Michael Jordan when it comes to all-time greats. Jordan is the platinum standard when it comes to the legacies of basketball players and Kobe often imitated his game while also carving out his own impressive legacy.
If you ask NBA legend and former Laker great Magic Johnson, Bryant is right there with Jordan. Following the announcement of Kobe's retirement at the end of this season, Johnson discussed that he was happy for Bryant and would have supported him regardless of the decision he made. He also mentioned that Kobe is "the closest thing we've seen to Michael Jordan" and will probably be the second greatest shooting guard when it's all said and done. From Yahoo:
"He's the closest thing we've seen to Michael Jordan," Johnson said. "He'll probably go down as the second greatest scoring guard. You couldn't stop him. His will to win was incredible and he stayed in the gym like no other. This guy was 24/7 basketball. I'm happy for him because he said he feels this is his time to go out. He's going out the way he wants to go out."
Magic was a competitor of Jordan's. He was also a teammate briefly during the 1992 Dream Team run in Barcelona. He's also been around Kobe since he was traded for during the 1996 NBA Draft and his Laker career began. Twenty years later, few are as familiar with what Bryant has done, how he has done it, and the accomplishments that have gone along the way than Magic, who has even gone as far to say that Kobe is the greatest Laker ever to play.
That's some pretty high praise from a man who is in the discussion for greatest Laker of all time. Magic has never had an issue praising Kobe when it comes to basketball. It's the work ethic and will to win during the majority of his career that stands out to the greats like Magic. They know how hard it is to get to the top and they know how hard it is to sustain that kind of excellence. It's great to see the legends of the game have no problem in stepping aside to praise such a historic individual.
