![]() And I don't know what I was thinking or what I was working on, but what were you thinking about when you were growing up trying to work on your moves?' I said 'What age?' He says '12'. "I remember maybe a couple months ago he sends me a text and he said, 'I'm trying to teach my daughter some moves. But you have a sense of love for him and the way that he can bring out the best in you. I'm pretty sure Vanessa and his friends all can say the same thing – he knows how to get to you in a way that affects you personally, even though he's being a pain in the ass. "I told my wife I wasn't gonna do this cause I didn't want to see that for the next three or four years. "Now, he's got me and I'll have to look at another crying meme for the next. And he was just trying to be a better person. We talked about business, we talked about family, we talked about everything. ![]() 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. "To do that, you have to put up with the aggravation, the late-night calls, or the dumb questions. And as I got to know him, I wanted to be the best big brother that I could be. He wanted to be the best basketball player that he could be. "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. If you have to beg someone, you would go get it. If you have to walk, you would go get it. Either ice cream, Cokes, hamburgers, whatever you have a love for. 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. This kid had passion like you would never know. But then it turned into a certain passion. "He used to call me, text me, 11:30, 2:30, 3 o'clock in the morning, talking about post-up moves, footwork, and sometimes, the triangle. Just because the admiration that they have for you as big brothers or big sisters, the questions in wanting to know every little detail about life that they were about to embark on. It was a nuisance – if I can say that word – but that nuisance turned into love over a period of time. "You know all of us have brothers and sisters, little brothers, little sisters, who for whatever reason always tend to get in your stuff, your closet, your shoes, everything. Everyone always wanted to talk about the comparisons between he and I. "Maybe it surprised people that Kobe and I were very close friends. In the game of basketball, in life, as a parent – Kobe left nothing in the tank. "I'm grateful to be here to honor Gigi and celebrate the gifts that Kobe gave us all – what he accomplished as a basketball player, as a businessman, and a storyteller and as a father. I'm grateful to Vanessa and the Bryant family for the opportunity to speak today. "I would say good morning, but it's afternoon. Jordan was Bryant's idol and mentor growing up in the game and during his 11-minute speech, the six-time NBA champion shared heartfelt stories about their late-night texts and times together. Bryant scored 33 points, while Jordan scored 36 to lead the Chicago Bulls to victory. Jordan played an 18-year-old Bryant in 1996, and as emcee Jimmy Kimmel noted, Bryant asked him during the game for tips on his jump shot. Michael Jordan gave a moving speech about his close friend Kobe Bryant during the memorial at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday.
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