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Ron Harper shares how much Kobe Bryant was obsessed with Michael Jordan: "Every day he talk about MJ"
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- Ron Harper shares how much Kobe Bryant was obsessed with Michael Jordan: "Every day he talk about MJ"
The notion that Kobe Bryant was the closest thing to Michael Jordan remains common among basketball fans to this day.
The late Los Angeles Lakers guard built his career on the MJ template as he basically copied his fadeaway shot, jab step and pump fakes.
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While Bryant idolized Jordan, it never hindered his competitive spirit whenever he faced the Chicago Bulls legend. The fearless demeanor was another indication of how closely Kobe followed in Michael's footsteps. Those who've witnessed it closely can certainly attest to it.
Among them is Ron Harper , who was a teammate of Bryant and Jordan during their respective primes. He was part of MJ's second three-peat with the Bulls from 1996 to 1998, before he followed Coach Phil Jackson to the Lakers ahead of the 1999-00 season.
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At the time, Bryant was only a couple of years into his career, but Harper noticed something special about the Black Mamba. Recently, appearing on the Cousins podcast with Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, Ron talked about seeing early glimpses of Mike in Kobe.
" Kobe Bryant is as about as close to MJ as you ever going to have, like real close. Like A and AB. When I first came here in 2000, just to see this kid play and see he been in the league for two, three years, then just to see him play. See him play, and every day he talk about MJ and me, what did MJ do? How MJ this … that. And I'm like, relax, dude. Like, you okay. Like, you working and he work extremely hard," said Harper, who won two championships with Bryant.
Kobe was chasing MJ's GOAT status
Fortunate to have played alongside two of the greatest in Jordan and Bryant, Harper indeed knew what it took to be the No. 1 guy. Ron was no stranger to Mike's intense sessions. Hence, when he saw the Lakers guard, he realized how Kobe was trying to become the GOAT.
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"Kobe's relentlessness wasn't just about games. Basketball was a 24/7 obsession for him. When they rolled the ball out at practice, there was no need for him to warm up. He was already warmed up at 7 a.m. He was ready to get it in. He would go at guys so hard in practice that I started to think to myself, 'Okay, this guy is really trying to be MJ. He's trying to be the greatest of all-time,'" said Ron in one of his previous statements about Kobe.
At the same time, Bryant made no qualms about emulating Jordan in every way possible. To his credit, he did come closest to it. Harper, a common link between the two greats, attested to it as well. Though when it came to comparing teams, Ron felt the 2009-10 Lakers had no chance against the 1995-96 Bulls.
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The 72-10 Bulls were unstoppable
The MJ-led Bulls from the 1995-96 season are widely regarded as the greatest team of all time. It began with clocking the most regular-season wins in NBA history at 72, a record they held for nearly two decades before the Golden State Warriors broke it during the 2015-16 season.
Nonetheless, some candidates had shown potential to break the 72-10 record in the past. One of them was the 2009-10 Lakers team led by Bryant, who had previously finished the season with 65 wins. Putting an end to any such hopes, Harper claimed the Lakers were nowhere near .
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"If they go 73-9, that means the Bulls team I played on would probably go 75-7, because if we would be playing all the weak teams they are playing now, we wouldn't lose," Harper told the Los Angeles Times back in 2009.
That said, Ron would tip his hat to the Lakers had they managed to achieve this milestone. But when it came to comparisons with the 1995-96 Bulls, they would still be far away.
Related: Michael Jordan's Daytona 500 victory comes with a massive payday: "I can't even believe it"
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Feb 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
