Kobe Bryant has been the main topic of conversation since he announced that he would be retiring from the NBA at the end of this season after 19 years. Today, his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, who played in the NBA as well, broke his silence, doing his first interview since the announcement with CBS Radio’s Brown And Scoop podcast. One of the major talking points, was when he was posed with who he felt might be the face of the league much like Michael Jordan and Kobe years from now. Interestingly enough, he name checked Minnesota Timberwolves swingman Andrew Wiggins.
Michael was Michael. Michael was special. Kobe is Kobe. Kobe was special. You’re not going to find too many players with a similar body, similar height. Kobe grew up watching Michael. We had to overseas, we didn’t have all those internet stuff that you have now. We had this film company called Pontelle that you used to deliver VHS tapes to us. We used to share them throughout the Americans overseas and we used to catch all the games. Sure, they were two or three weeks old, but for us it was new. Kobe had a chance to watch Chicago, Detroit, all those series that were so great.
“No, Michael is great. Kobe is great. I don’t see anyone else who compares to Michael or to Kobe. I think the kid in Minnesota has a chance to be special…Wiggins. You talk about the size frame and those kind of things. Wiggins has the chance to be special, because really I don’t see anyone else. I don’t think there will be another Kobe or another Michael.
Though he used that comparison mainly because of the size of Wiggins in comparison with MJ and Kobe, it is glaring to ignore Stephen Curry in that conversation regarding the future of the NBA.
