Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are two of the top five players to ever play basketball. Jordan is the undisputed best player ever while Bryant is maybe just a couple of players behind. Since Jordan didn't play as many seasons as some of the other legends of the game, his scoring stats weren't as high as some people would be led to believe. In the last few years, both LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have surpassed Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list.
LeBron is just a few points away from passing Kobe and fans are excited to see LeBron continue his ascent to first all-time. Kobe recently stated that he fully supports LeBron's efforts and even recalled a story from when he surpassed Jordan. As Kobe explains, Jordan sent him a text the night he passed him in points and to this day, Bryant still thinks about it with glee.
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“That was the most important thing,” Bryant said per Bill Oram of The Athletic. “That was cool. Because it’s such a brotherhood, such an amount of respect between us as players, and you know the amount of work and consistency you have to put in over time so it’s nothing but love and respect.”
Needless to say, it's always nice to feel respected by those you've always looked up to.