"He wasn't as big of a ball handler as Kobe" - Phil Handy explains why Kobe Bryant was more dynamic than Michael Jordan originally appeared on Basketball Network .
Phil Handy had the opportunity to help Kobe Bryant even improve his game during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers as player development coach. In the process, Handy could carefully observe every detail of Bryant's moves and strategies.
By doing so, Handy discovered what most viewers didn't realize back then. Most fans were convinced that Kobe and Michael Jordan had significantly identical bags. Handy cited a slight yet very notable difference between the two legends.
According to Handy, Bryant was more dynamic and versatile than Jordan as an offensive player. He came up with the conclusion after noticing that Kobe often mixed his footwork with his handles. On the other hand, MJ rarely dribbled.
"A lot of people look at Kobe and Mike, and the biggest difference is that while Mike was great with his footwork, he wasn't as big of a ball handler as Kobe," Handy assessed . "If you ever saw Mike put the ball on the floor, it was for one or two dribbles, max, then he'd explode up or to the rim. (Jordan) would set everything up with his footwork, but Kobe also has the ability to go to the dribble if the footwork doesn't work. Not to say that Mike couldn't handle it, he just didn't most of the time."
Despite determining one of the most significant differences between Kobe and Jordan, Handy agreed that both players were highly efficient scorers. MJ's moves may have looked crisper and cleaner because of fewer dribbles, but Handy noted that Bryant also perfected his plays.
Handy even pointed out that Bryant didn't stop fine-tuning his game. Kobe didn't stop improving his effective go-to moves unlike other players. For Handy, Bryant and Jordan were generally identical but Kobe really made an effort to separate himself from other great scorers and undeniably succeeded.
" Kobe does too. He gets to it in his own way," Handy added of Bryant. "He's just a different animal. Trying to work with a guy like that even from showing him something different or now - if he sees it is going to work for him, he will apply it."
Due to Kobe and MJ's striking similarities, it would take a keen eye to spot the difference between them. Apart from Handy, their former coach, Phil Jackson, is one of the few people who can tell in which category Jordan and Bryant differ.
Jackson coached Jordan during the glory days of the Chicago Bulls in the '90s and mentored Bryant in LA in the 2000s. For "The Zen Master," the most noticeable difference between Kobe and MJ from a coach's point of view was their coachability.
"There was something coachable about Michael that Kobe didn't have," Phil once revealed. " But Kobe had an irrepressible fire. He'd know what he'd done. He had a conscience."
Bryant's career and legacy have always been intertwined with Jordan's. While it could always be the case, it's pretty refreshing to hear interesting perspectives and nuances from those who have once worked with Kobe and MJ.
All told, what Handy and Coach Jackson shared about Bryant and Jordan only proves that even though they were almost the same, it's essential to recognize how they diligently worked on their games separately.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
