1. Kobe reflects on Michael Jordan as his big brother
One of the elements that make this moment truly special could not have come in a more unexpected way. The Last Dance was supposed to be Jordan’s triumphant return to the public eye reminding the world of his global icon status. However, Jordan was reintroduced to the public on February 24th, 2020 at Kobe Bryant‘s and daughter, Gianna’s, Bryant’s Celebration of Life at Staples Center, the house that Kobe built, after their tragic passing less than a month earlier on January 26th.
Jordan gave an emotional, heartfelt, all-encompassing speech about Kobe even referring to him as his little brother who made Michael a better person. Michael revealed many intimate details about just how deep the relationship between he and Kobe was, which set the stage for Kobe’s posthumous appearance in The Last Dance.
The episode begins dedicated to Kobe Bryant as the stage is set at the all-star game in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on February 8th, 1998. It is made abundantly clear that Jordan is the current king of the NBA going for his sixth championship while Kobe Bryant, the youngest all-star ever at 19 years old, is the biggest threat to take his throne.
The big story going into the game was, “the future vs. the present”, with Kobe vs. Michael respectively as a generation of fans saw, “the next Michael Jordan”, vs. Michael in Jordan’s final year of his prime.
The audience is taken into the Eastern Conference All-Star locker room featuring exclusive sound bites that include the entire locker room focused on preparing for Kobe with Jordan saying, “That Lakers’ boy gonna take everybody one-on-one.”
Legendary sports journalist Bob Costas then comments on how everyone’s saying Kobe’s ready to be the man in the NBA but not to forget about the current king of the court, Michael Jordan.
Kobe Bryant appears in the present day as a wise, grizzled veteran with grey in his beard as he laments on growing up watching Michael Jordan win championships, making it all the more special to play against him in this All-Star game. Kobe elaborates on going to Michael for guidance calling Mike his, “big brother,” also revealing Jordan told Kobe he could always give him a call as Kobe asked Michael how he went about his fade-away jumper in the middle of the game leaving MJ impressed.
Kobe closes the interview about his idol whom he modeled so much of his game and approach to greatness after saying:
"“I truly hate having discussions about who would win one-on-one”, and fans saying ‘Kobe, you’d beat Michael one-on-one.’ I feel like… what you get from me is from him. I don’t get five championships here without him, because he guided me so much and he gave me so much great advice”."
The scene closes at the end of the all-star game with Jordan going out of his way to meet Kobe and say, “I’ll see you down the road”, as Kobe taps his hero on the butt like an old friend and says, “cool,” with the kind of confidence only these two legends carry.