FOR YEARS, MICHAEL JORDAN and Kobe Bryant had been protective of their relationship.
Jordan would call Bryant his "little brother," Bryant would call Jordan his "big brother," and they'd praise each other's work ethic and accomplishments. But rarely would either volunteer much more, each man knowing all too well that any glimpse would invite the kind of comparisons and debate they loathed.
Only a few people had a sense of just how close Jordan and Bryant had become.
"If you just watched them interact in a game, Kobe always was like a magnet going toward Michael," said former Los Angeles Lakers general manager Jerry West.