Nobody emulated Michael Jordan more successfully and determinedly — in terms of style, mentality, and winning — than late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
Jordan was one of Bryant's ultimate heroes and closest confidants, so it's only fitting that the six-time NBA champion will be Kobe's presenter when the longtime Lakers guard is formally enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next month.
On Thursday, the hoops hall released details for the upcoming 2020 induction ceremony — which was delayed from last summer to May 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — including presenters for each honoree:
#20HoopClass inductee Kobe Bryant will be presented by Michael Jordan. pic.twitter.com/RDmEVK7EsN
— Basketball HOF (@Hoophall) April 15, 2021
Jordan will also present for Baylor women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey. Bryant and Mulkey will be inducted alongside a star-studded class that includes Kobe's contemporaries, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, coaches Rudy Tomjanovich and Eddie Sutton, and WNBA legend Tamika Catchings, among others.
As wrong as Bryant's absence will feel at the ceremony, it's only right that His Airness will be front-and-center when The Black Mamba achieves the ultimate basketball milestone. Here are three (obvious) reasons why.
1) It's the family's decision
Michael Jordan delivered a poignant eulogy at the public memorial service for Kobe Bryant in February 2020 at Staples Center. It was a pitch-perfect (and surreal) address, and one of the few instances in which Jordan has been so emotionally raw in public:
“When Kobe died, a little piece of me died,” Jordan said.
For the memorial, Bryant's widow, Vanessa, selected speakers who shared special connections to Kobe and their daughter, Gianna, including Jordan.
According to the Hall of Fame's official announcement, in the case of posthumous honorees, the family had the opportunity “to select previous inductees to accompany and present them to their peers.” Evidently, the Bryant family asked Jordan to be there for Kobe, once again. Before his death, Bryant had said he wanted either Jordan or Phil Jackson to present him.
It's unclear if MJ will deliver any sort of remarks on Bryant's behalf. (He does not have a great history with Hall of Fame speeches.) Typically, presenters introduce a video commemorating the honoree and stand alongside him or her during the remarks.
Either way, for all our sakes, hopefully Jordan will gift us another memorable meme:
2) Bryant was always chasing Jordan
Famously, Kobe Bryant used Michael Jordan as the ambitious template for his career, and the driving force behind his unmatched daily commitment to greatness and the grind. At times, Bryant even seemed to share DNA with Jordan, whether it be via his turnaround jumper, fundamental footwork, grace in the air, clutch cojones, or countless other similarities.
Just check this out:
Striving to catch Jordan fueled Bryant's Hall of Fame career, perhaps more than anything else.
He didn't quite catch Jordan — Bryant finished with one fewer ring (five) — but he came about as close as anybody could have imagined. Except for Bryant, of course.
3) Their relationship ran much deeper than basketball
In ESPN's “The Last Dance” docuseries on Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, Kobe Bryant credited Michael Jordan with helping him along early in his career:
“It was a rough couple years for me coming into the league, ‘cause at the time the league was so much older, it’s not as young as it is today. So nobody was really thinking much of me, I was a kid that shot a bunch of air balls, you know what I mean? And at that point, Michael provided a lot of guidance for me. Like I had a question about shooting this turnaround shot, so I asked him about it. He gave me a great, detailed answer, but on top of that, he said, ‘If you ever need anything, give me a call.’ That’s like my big brother.”
In last February's eulogy, Jordan revealed that the personal bond between him and Bryant forged was much stronger than anybody knew:
“Maybe it surprised people that Kobe and I were very close friends,” Jordan said. “But we were very close friends. Kobe was my dear friend. He was like a little brother.”
“As I got to know him, I wanted to be the best big brother I could be.”
The 2020 enshrinement is sure to be the most-watched and emotional induction ceremony in the history of the Hall of Fame.
Here's the full list of inductees and their respective presenters:
- Kobe Bryant, presented by Michael Jordan (Hall of Fame class of 2009)
- Kim Mulkey, presented by Jordan
- Tim Duncan, presented by David Robinson ('09)
- Kevin Garnett, presented by Isiah Thomas ('00)
- Tamika Catchings, presented by Dawn Staley ('13), Alonzo Mourning (’14)
- Barbara Stevens, presented by Muffet McGraw ('17), Geno Auriemma ('06)
- Eddie Sutton, presented by John Calipari ('15), Bill Self ('17), Sidney Moncrief ('19)
- Rudy Tomjanovich, presented by Calvin Murphy ('93), Hakeem Olajuwon ('08)
- Patrick Baumann, presented by Russ Granik ('13), Vlade Divac ('19)
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