Michael Jordan will be the presenter in the exaltation of the late great Kobe Bryant at the Basketball Hall of Fame, according to the body’s own authorities.
As you may recall, Jordan was one of the people who spoke at the ceremony at the Staples Center to mark the deaths of Kobe, his daughter Gianna and seven others in a plane crash. The two had formed a great friendship, to the point where Jordan described Bryant as a younger brother.
# 20HoopClass the Kobe Bryant commercial will be presented by Michael Jordan. pic.twitter.com/RDmEVK7EsN
– Basketball HOF (@Hoophall) April 15, 2021
“In the beginning, it was a hassle,” Jordan said of Bryant, who constantly asked him questions early in his career. “Then it became a passion.”
“As soon as I met him, he wanted to be the best big brother he could be.”
Bryant will become one of the new members in May next year, along with former San Antonio Spurs player Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets as part of the 2020 class. which will be honored. 15 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryant will be exalted after winning 5 championships (all with the Los Angeles Lakers), 2 MVP awards in the NBA Finals (2009-2010) and another as the most valuable of a regular season (2008), finishing career with 33,643 points, 7,047 rebounds and 6,306 assists.
Jordan will also play Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey, making him the only Hall of Famer to feature more candidates during this year’s enrollment ceremony.
Duncan and Garnett will be introduced by David Robinson and Isiah Thomas, respectively, while Rudy Tomjanovich, the two-time NBA champion coach of the Houston Rockets, will be introduced by franchise icons Hakeem Olaujuwon and Calvin Murphy.