This is pure art for a diehard basketball fan.
YouTube user 2012Mamba has uploaded a video that shows Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan and Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant executing more than two minutes worth of identical moves.
The whole arsenal is on display: pull-up jumpers, up-and-under lay-ups, turnarounds in the post, tongue-waving in transition, spin moves to shake a defender, ducking through traffic, buzzer-beaters, quick-stop fallaways and dunking in traffic.
The clip selection is brilliant and the younger Bryant's attention to detail in studying and replicating Jordan is on full display.
While the video is, at first glance, a tribute to Bryant's growing legend, its lasting impact is simply honoring Jordan one more time. While Bryant's moves come in clear HD, Jordan's are grainier and not in widescreen, a reminder that he was a good 10 years ahead of his time when he was unfurling some of his trademarks. While's Bryant's imitations are as close as anyone has managed, they are still imitations.
This will be Bryant's burden for as long as anyone cares about basketball. His only hope: win back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014 (to put him one ring up on Jordan) and hang on long enough to move up from No. 5 to at least No. 3 (passing Jordan) on the NBA's all-time scoring chart. Will that convince everyone that the two players deserve to be on equal historical footing? Probably not. But it would go a long way to helping history judge them as two individuals rather than as master and superstar apprentice.
