Kobe Bryant always tried to match Michael Jordan’s greatness. But he might have been even more obsessed with chasing MJ than any of us realised.
That certainly seemed to be the case when former Lakers guard and current Clippers assistant Brian Shaw appeared on Podcast P with Paul George this week.
Kobe literally took matters into his own hands when Phil Jackson gave MJ the edge over him pic.twitter.com/3XSOnVjRB5
— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) February 21, 2024
“He (Phil Jackson) did say later on that he gave Michael the edge over Kobe only because Michael had bigger hands,” Shaw said.
“And he could palm the ball off the dribble and do stuff that Kobe couldn’t do. But even when he said that then after that came out, Kobe, every time in the locker room, had vice grips, and he was strengthening his hands so that he could try to get to the point where he could palm the ball.”
Bryant commented on his hand size compared to Jordan’s during an ESPN interview in 2013.
“Michael was blessed with massive hands and Dr. J (Julius Erving) as well and some of these other players,” he said.
“I wasn’t. I have big hands, but (Jordan and Erving) can literally pick up the ball like an orange, so I’ve had to do things to strengthen my hands, strengthen my forearms to make sure I have that grip to be able to do it. They obviously had the natural capabilities to do it. I had to work to get that strength to be able to do it.”
Phil Jackson has previously likened Jordan’s hands to a glove, saying they gave him a huge advantage on the court.
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