Michael Jordan Honored Kobe Bryant Before His Final Game Against The Hornets

Maybe the most fun “what if?” in NBA history is “what if the Charlotte Hornets didn’t trade Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers on draft day in 1996?” As everyone knows, Charlotte picked Bryant, but flipped him to the Los Angeles Lakers that night for Vlade Divac. Bryant ended up turning into one of the greatest players in league history for one of the NBA’s most prestigious franchises, while Divac was traded to Sacramento two years later – it’s safe to say that LA won that trade.

But the connection between Bryant and Charlotte has always been a fun one to remember. The entire course of NBA history could have been changed if that trade doesn’t happen, and the tie between the two became even stronger in 2006, when Michael Jordan – the guy who Bryant has been compared to for basically his entire career – became an owner of the team.*

Monday is Bryant’s final game in the Queen City. Before the Lakers met the Hornets, the team decided to pay homage to the greatest player it has ever drafted with a video featuring Jordan addressing Bryant. It’s a touching gesture, one in which Jordan says the team is proud of what Bryant has accomplished and mentions that he’s always viewed himself as a big brother to Bryant.

Once that was done, Bryant was introduced to the crowd for his usual introduction, and the pop for him was as loud as any you’ll hear this season.

There have been and will be a bunch of tributes for Bryant as his final season in the league winds down, but it’s hard to imagine that any of them will be better than the one done by Charlotte.

(*Ed. Note: Yes, the original Charlotte Hornets franchise established in 1988 moved to New Orleans after the 2001-02 season and eventually changed their name to New Orleans Pelicans. Yes, the Charlotte Bobcats came into existence in 2004 and rebranded back to the Charlotte Hornets in 2013. All of that is correct, but making the comment that they’re two separate franchises overlooks the fact they have the exact same name, and are merely owned by different people. It’s also an incredibly minor issue to have with a blog post like this, but we’ll put this caveat in so they feel all warm and comfy about correcting someone.)

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