Hall of Famer Magic Johnson has shared his two cents worth on the Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant comparisons. According to the Los Angeles Lakers legend, it is clear that in his mind, Bryant is the closest thing we've seen to Jordan.

Johnson recently appeared on ESPN's First Take and explained why he believes this to be so:

“Let’s go to on the court first. Kobe admired, respected Michael Jordan in a special way that he patterned his game after Michael,” Johnson said, via Orlando Silva of Fadeaway World. “Kobe is the closest thing to Michael that we’ve seen. Why? Because he can score that basketball just like Michael Jordan. He had the same mindset and attitude just like Michael Jordan, he took no prisoners, he wanted to just put his foot on your neck and wanted to destroy you, mentally and physically, just like Michael Jordan and he wanted to have six championships, like Michael Jordan. He got close, he got five, but he never got that sixth championship.”

Magic went on to say that aside from emulating Jordan on the basketball court, Kobe also patterned his life outside basketball to that of the great Michael Jordan.

“Off the court, he wanted to build his business just like Michael Jordan, and you know what? He was getting there, too,” Johnson added. “Kobe was doing an outstanding job as a businessman, and he was taking the run that Jordan took off the court. He was building his own brand at the same time and I believe that’s why Kobe and Michael really enjoyed each other because they went to places very few athletes go, where they were world-famous, where they were able to build a successful brand and company. They were able to win championships and then they were able to do something special on the basketball court that we haven’t seen no other players do. They had the same mindset and so that’s why they got along off the court.”

It's a shame that we lost Kobe too soon. He may have not reached the heights MJ did on the court, but as Johnson implied above, he was on his way to duplicate Jordan's achievements from a business and brand perspective.