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transcript.
Speech by Michael Jordan at the
Memorial for Kobe and Gigi Bryant
Staples Center
February 25, 2020
I would say, “Good
morning,” but it’s afternoon. I’m grateful to
Vanessa and
the Bryant family for the
opportunity to speak today. I’m
grateful to be here to
honor Gigi and
celebrate the gift that Kobe gave us all
–
what he accomplished as
a
basketball
player,
as
a
businessman
and
a
storyteller
and
as
a
father.
In
the
game
of basketball, in life as a parent,
Kobe left nothing in the tank. He left it all
on the floor.
Maybe
it
surprised
people
that
Kobe
and
I
were
very
close
friends,
but
we
were
very
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close
friends.
Kobe
was
my
dear
friend.
He
was
like
a
little
brother.
Everyone
always
wanted to talk about the comparisons
between he and I. I just wanted to talk about
Kobe. You know, all of us have
brothers, sisters, little brothers, little sisters
who,
for
whatever
reason,
always
tend
to
get
in
your
stuff,
your
closet,
your
shoes,
everything.
It
was
a
nuisance,
if
I
can
say
that
word.
But
that
nuisance
turned
into
love over a period of
time just because [of] the admiration that they
had for you
as
big
brothers
or
big
sisters,
the
questions
they’re
wanting
to
know
every
little
detail about life that they were about
to embark on.
He
used
to
call
me,
text
me
11:30,
2:30,
3:00
in
the
morning,
talking
about
post-up
moves,
footwork,
and
sometimes,
the
triangle.
At
first,
it
was
an
aggravation,
but
then it turned into a
certain passion. This kid had passion like you
would never
know. It’s an amazing thing
about passion. If you love something, if you have
a
strong passion for something, you
would go to the extreme to try to understand or
try
to
get
it
–
either
ice
cream,
Cokes,
hamburgers,
whatever
you
have
a
love
for.
If you have to walk, you would go get
it. If you have to beg someone, you would go
get
it.
What
Kobe
Bryant
was
to
me
was
the
inspiration
that
someone
truly
cared
about
the
way
either
I
played
the
game
or
the
way
that
he
wanted
to
play
the
game.
He
wanted
to be the best
basketball player that he could be.
And as I got to know him, I
wanted to be the best big brother that I could be.
To
do that, you have to put up with the
aggravation, the late-night calls or the dumb
questions. I took great pride as I got
to know Kobe Bryant that he was just trying
to
be
a
better
person,
a
better
basketball
player.
We
talked
about
business,
we
talked
about
family, we talked about everything. And he was
just trying to be a better
person.
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