The world is shaken by the lost of American basketball player Kobe Bryant who past away yesterday in an helicopter crash in Los Angeles.
Kobe was a very talented basketball player and was well known worldwide but the Michael Jackson fans will also remember him for being a friend of the King of Pop and avid supporter.
Throughout the years, Kobe said Michael was a mentor to him. He also made a speech during Michael’s funeral.
During the summer after his rookie season, Bryant received a phone call from none other than the late Michael Jackson.
“He’s calling me out of the f—— blue,” Bryant recalled. “I don’t think it’s a real phone call.”
“Keep doing what you’re doing,” Jackson said. “Don’t come back to the pack and be normal for the sake of blending in with others. Don’t dumb it down.”
A message that would resonate with Kobe throughout his career and help mold him into the ferocious player so many people love to hate.
Bryant would eventually meet with Jackson at his Neverland Ranch just outside Los Olivos, California.
“He told me, ‘This is what you love. This is your obsession. I know what it’s like to be different. Embrace it.’”
From there Michael Jackson would go on to tell Kobe all about how he made hits like “Thriller” and “Bille Jean” and the relationships he sought out with other legends in music, including Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono.
“You’ve got to study all the greats,” Jackson told Kobe. “You’ve got to learn what made them successful and what made them unsuccessful.”
That night, Kobe drove him with a stack of old movies and a book The King of Pop assigned to him to study. Something Kobe had become accustomed to in his quest to be one of the greatest.
But Kobe still remembers Michael as one of the greatest influences in his life.
“Michael Jackson was probably the biggest mentor I’ve ever had,” Bryant says. “That phone call in Gold’s Gym literally changed my life.”
And as far as Kobe’s thoughts on blending in?
“He wasn’t normal,” Kobe says. “Most geniuses aren’t.”
The Michael Jackson Estate paid tribute to Kobe:
Everyone at the Michael Jackson Estate joins the world in mourning the immeasurably tragic loss of Kobe Bryant, not just for his magnetic excitement and competitive spirit on the basketball court but for his kindness and generosity toward others as well as his devotion to his family including his daughter Gianna who tragically died with him. Kobe and Michael become good friends, it is telling of his spirit that in speaking at Michael’s memorial service in 2009, Kobe stressed that for all of Michael’s achievements on stage he should be remembered for his charitable efforts. Our hearts go out to Kobe’s family and friends during this difficult time.
The Michael Jackson Estate
All our thoughts and love to Kobe’s Family. Rest in Peace.
