Michael Jordan - Tribute to kobe Bryan

 I'm grateful to Vanessa and Bryan family forthe opportunity to speak today. I'm grateful to be here to honor Gigi andcelebrate 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 Iwere 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 comparisonsbetween 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, yourcloset, 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 havefor you as big brothers or big sisters, the questions in wanting to know every littledetail 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 neverknow. It's an amazing thing about passion. If you love something, if you have a strongpassion for something, you would go to the extreme to try to understand or try to getit. Either ice cream, Cokes, hamburgers, whateveryou have a love for. If you have to walk, you would go get it. If you have to beg someone, you would go getit. What Kobe Bryant was to me was the inspirationthat someone truly cared about the way either I played the game or the way that he wantedto play the game. He wanted to be the best basketball playerthat he could be. And as I got to know him, I wanted to be thebest 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 Bryantthat he was just trying to be a better person – a better basketball player. We talked about business, we talked aboutfamily, we talked about everything. And he was just trying to be a better person. I remember maybe a couple months ago he sendsme a text and he said, “I'm trying to teach my daughter some moves. And I don't know what I was thinking or whatI was working on, but what were you thinking about when you were growing up trying to workon 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 “Laughingmy ass off.” And this is at 2 o'clock in the morning. But the thing about him was we could talkabout anything that related to basketball but we could talk about anything that relatedto life. And we, as we grew up in life, rarely havefriends that we can have conversations like that. Well, it's even rarer when you can grow upagainst adversaries and have conversations like that. I went and saw Phil Jackson in 1999, maybe2000, 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 youbring your shoes?” “No, I wasn't thinking about playing.” But his attitude to compete and play againstsomeone he felt like he could enhance and improve his game, that's what I loved aboutthe kid. I absolutely loved the kid. No matter where he saw me, it was a challenge. And I admired him because his passion, yourarely see someone who is looking and trying to improve each and every day, not just insports, but as a parent, as a husband. I am inspired by what he's done, and whathe's shared with Vanessa, and what he's shared with his kids. I have a daughter who's 30 and I became agrandparent. And I have two twins. I have twins at 6. I can't wait to get home to become a GirlDadand 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 thistonight, looking at how he responded and reacted with the people he actually loved. These are the things that we will continueto learn from Kobe Bryant. To Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka, Capri, my wifeand 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 supportto all the families affected by this enormous tragedy. Kobe gave every last ounce of himself to whateverhe was doing. After basketball, he showed a creative sideto 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, amazinghusband, 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 forus to do. No one knows how much time we have. That's why we must live in the moment, wemust enjoy the moment, we must reach and see and spend as much time as we can with ourfamilies and friends and the people that we absolutely love. To live in the moment means to enjoy eachand 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 theglobe, a piece of you died, or else you wouldn't be here. Those are the memories that we have to livewith and we learn from. I promise you from this day forward, I willlive with the memories of knowing that I had a little brother and I tried to help in everyway I could. Please, rest in peace little brother.