Bryant's interview about Jordan leaves fans emotional

The late Kobe Bryant was on the minds and hearts of fans watching the 10-part docuseries, “The Last Dance” on ESPN Sunday night. The NBA legend had an interview and dedication in episode 5 of the documentary, which chronicles the Bulls’ sixth and last championship run with Michael Jordan.

Bryant did an interview about Jordan prior to the helicopter crash that killed him, his daughter and several others in Southern California. He discussed how much of an influence the basketball icon was to him and his success. 

“He’s like my big brother,” Bryant said. “I truly hate having discussions about who would win one-on-one, or fans saying, ‘Hey, Kob’, you’d beat Michael one-on-one.’ I feel like, yo, what you get from me is from him. I don’t get five championships here without him because he guided me so much and gave me so much great advice.” 

There was also a touching title card that kicked off the episode that read, “In Loving Memory of Kobe Bryant.”

Some of the episode highlighted Jordan’s early encounters with Bryant and their first All-Star appearance together in 1998 in New York City. Surrounded by a bunch of Hall of Fame basketball players, Jordan talked about Bryant, who was in his second season as a pro.

“That little Laker boy is going to take everyone one-on-one,”  Jordan said. “He don’t let the game come to him. He just go out there and take it.” 

From then on, Bryant spent much of his career emulating Jordan and his moves to improve his own game. The documentary comes months after Jordan gave a tearful eulogy at Bryant’s funeral, where he described Bryant as a little brother.

“He wanted to be the best basketball player that he could be,” Jordan said. “As I got to know him, I wanted to be the best big brother that I could be.” 

“When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died,” Jordan added. “As I look in this arena and across the globe, a piece of you died.”

Fans on social media were touched by seeing Bryant again.