Jordan wept in memory of Kobe's speech. Read the full text online.The full text of Jordan's memorial speech is now published:
"I wanted to say good morning, but it's afternoon now. I'm very grateful to Vanessa and Brian's family for giving me the opportunity to speak today.
I'm grateful to be here to honor Gigi and to bring you the gift Kobe left for all of us as a basketball player, a businessman, a storyteller, and a father.
In the basketball game, in life, as a parent, Kobe did not hold back. He left everything on the court.
People might be surprised, but Kobe and I are very close friends. But we are indeed very close friends. Kobe is my dear friend. He's like a little brother to me. Everyone wants to compare us.
I just want to talk about Kobe. You know, all of us have brothers and sisters, little brothers and little sisters, and for whatever reason, they always want your things, your wardrobe, your shoes, everything.
It's really annoying, if I may say so. But after a while, this annoyance turns into love, because they admire you as a big brother or sister, and they want to know every little detail of the life they are about to begin.
I'm very grateful to the Bryant family for giving me the opportunity to speak today. I'm very grateful that I can remember Kobe and Gigi here. Kobe had many identities. He was a player, a businessman, a storyteller, and a father. Whether it was playing basketball or being a parent, Kobe gave everything he had. As a father, he took all the responsibility on himself and moved forward step by step. Perhaps what's surprising to everyone is that Kobe and I are good friends. Kobe and I are really good friends. Kobe and I are extremely close, just like my younger brother. People always compare us. I just want to talk about Kobe himself.
You know, we all have brothers and sisters. No matter what, they will give you support, clothes, shoes, and everything. This emotional bond can't be described with words, but what holds this bond together is love. It's their love for you as big brothers and sisters. But the problem is that he wants to know every detail of my life. He was always asking or texting me, from 11:30 to 2:30 in the morning, asking me questions about feints, training, and sometimes about the triangle offense. In the beginning, it was a burden, but later it turned into a passion. This child has a passion you've never seen before.
That kind of passion was unbelievable. If you loved something, if you were passionate about something, you would go to extremes and try to achieve your goal, knowing what you had to do to achieve it. Ice cream, coke, hamburgers, all these things that you like, you need to fight for them yourself. Maybe you have to beg others to get them. Kobe Bryant inspired me because he was someone who really cared about what I ate and how I played. He wanted to be the best athlete in the world, and I wanted to be the best brother. In order to do this, you had to carry a lot of things, such as those late night calls. We always said that he wanted to be the best player, he wanted to be the best businessman, he wanted to be the best parent, we talked about everything about him, and all he wanted to do was to become a better person.
Now I'll have to find another one who cries like me. I told my wife that I wasn't going to do it because I didn't want to see this video for the next three or four years. This is what Kobe did for me.
I'm sure his friends can say that with certainty. He knows that it affects you, but you can always feel his love for you. He will always present you with his best. I still remember a few months ago, he sent me a message saying,'I'm trying to teach my daughter some movements, and I don't know what she's thinking or why she's doing these things. What are you thinking about when you are trying to improve and grow? How do you adjust your mentality? I said,'How old is my daughter?' He said he was 12, and I said I was still playing baseball when I was 12, and then he sent me a message that mercilessly mocked me. It happened at two in the morning.
Not only could we talk about basketball, but we also often talked about life. We were true friends, and we often had this conversation. I remember in 1999 or 2000, when Phil Jackson coached the Laker, when I went to the Laker's stadium, I saw Kobe sitting there, and the first thing Kobe said when he saw me was,'Did you bring your shoes?' I said no, I'm not here to play basketball. "But he has a competitive attitude. He wants to fight against those who he thinks can help him improve. That's a quality I admire. He viewed me as a challenge, and I admired his passion. He motivated himself to do better every day, which was rare. Not only in sports, but also as a parent and husband, what he shared with Vanessa, what he shared with his children, inspired me."
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