Kobe Bryant vs. Michael Jordan: 5 Most Striking Similarities

Despite being regarded as elite offensive players, both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have done more than enough to prove that they could be topnotch defenders while being the best shooting guards in the league.

The two greats have a combined 18 trips to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. That’s an equal 9-9 split.

It seems as if the term clutch-gene was created because of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. And the reason for that title is exemplified in their world-class ability to deter defenders from halting their scoring.

If that’s news to you, just check out their positions on the NBA’s all-time points leaders list where Bryant sits at No. 4 with 31,700 points while the retired Jordan barely holds on to the third spot with 592 more.

Honoree? Down to physically fight teammates for alpha dog status? Willing to create false stories in order to stoke their own competitive fires? Those are qualities that Kobe and MJ share on and off the court.

Both players would risk losing a limb before they concede a game to someone. Neither would mind losing a friendship either. It’s the exact reason why both are praised for their killer instinct.

There's the tongue wagging, the shoulder shimmy in the post, the patented baseline fade away, the walk and the killer one-step pull-up. To say that Kobe studied Jordan would be an understatement. Let MJ tell it and it was more than studying, it was thievery:

"I don't think I'd lose other than Kobe Bryant because he steals all my moves."

Above all, the biggest thing that the top two-guards of all time have in common is winning.

Kobe’s five titles along with Jordan’s six rings (and shared three-peats) are as similar as things get. Because when all else fails, the true greatness of the best superstars rests in their NBA jewelry count; and in both cases that's jewelry that only came with Phil Jackson.