ENGLISH SPEECH MICHAEL JORDAN Tribute to Kobe Bryant English Subtitles
I’m grateful to Vanessa and Bryan family for
the opportunity to speak today.
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.
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 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 and 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 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.
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.
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.
I remember maybe a couple months ago he sends
me a text and he said, “I’m trying to teach
my daughter some moves.
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 said “12, I was trying to play baseball.”
He sends me a text back saying “Laughing
my ass off.”
And this is at 2 o’clock in the morning.
But the thing about him was we could talk
about anything that related to basketball
but we could talk about anything that related
to life.
And we, as we grew up in life, rarely have
friends that we can have conversations like
that.
Well, it’s even rarer when you can grow up
against adversaries and have conversations
like that.
I went and saw Phil Jackson in 1999, maybe
2000, I don’t know, when Phil was here in
L.A. And I walk in and Kobe’s sitting there.
And the first thing, Kobe said, “Did you
bring your shoes?”
“No, I wasn’t thinking about playing.”
But his attitude to compete and play against
someone he felt like he could enhance and
improve his game, that’s what I loved about
the kid.
I absolutely loved the kid.
No matter where he saw me, it was a challenge.
And I admired him because his passion, you
rarely see someone who is looking and trying
to improve each and every day, not just in
sports, but as a parent, as a husband.
I am inspired by what he’s done, and what
he’s shared with Vanessa, and what he’s shared
with his kids.
I have a daughter who’s 30 and I became a
grandparent.
And I have two twins.
I have twins at 6.
I can’t wait to get home to become a GirlDad
and to hug them and to see the love and smiles
that they bring to us as parents.
He taught me that just by looking at this
tonight, looking at how he responded and reacted
with the people he actually loved.
These are the things that we will continue
to learn from Kobe Bryant.
To Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka, Capri, my wife
and I will keep you close in our hearts and
our prayers.
We will always be here for you.
Always.
I also want to offer our condolences and support
to all the families affected by this enormous
tragedy.
Kobe gave every last ounce of himself to whatever
he was doing.
After basketball, he showed a creative side
to himself that I didn’t think any of us knew
he had.
In retirement, he seemed so happy.
He found new passions.
And he continued to give back, as a coach,
in his community.
More importantly, he was an amazing dad, amazing
husband, who dedicated himself to his family
and who loved his daughters with all his heart.
Kobe never left anything on the court.
And I think that’s what he would want for
us to do.
No one knows how much time we have.
That’s why we must live in the moment, we
must enjoy the moment, we must reach and see
and spend as much time as we can with our
families and friends and the people that we
absolutely love.
To live in the moment means to enjoy each
and every one that we come in contact with.
When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died.
And as I look in this arena and across the
globe, a piece of you died, or else you wouldn’t
be here.
Those are the memories that we have to live
with and we learn from.
I promise you from this day forward, I will
live with the memories of knowing that I had
a little brother and I tried to help in every
way I could.
Please, rest in peace little brother.