Basketball star Michael Jordan shared his final texts with Kobe Bryant before his tragic death.
Jordan shared the final texts in an interview published Tuesday with Jackie MacMullin of ESPN.
In an interview with ESPN’s Jackie McMullan, Michael Jordan revealed his final texts with Kobe Bryant on Dec. 8, 2019.
Amazing exchange between two of the greatest players ever ❤️???????? pic.twitter.com/IKmpznbF9e
— NBA Buzz (@OfficialNBABuzz) May 11, 2021
The conversation went as follows:
“This tequila is awesome,” Kobe texted.
“Thank you, my brother,” Jordan responded.
“Yes, sir. Family good?” Kobe replied.
“All good. Yours?”
“All good.”
“He was really into coaching Gigi,” MJ explains, “so I hit him up about that.”
“Happy holidays and hope to catch up soon,” Jordan responded. “Coach Kobe??!”
“I added that little crying/laughing emoji,” Jordan said.
“Ah, back at you, man,” Kobe reportedly wrote. “Hey, coach, I’m sitting on the bench right now, and we’re blowing this team out. 45-8.”
Jordan is inducting Bryant into the hall of fame. (RELATED: Luke Walton Says Kobe Bryant Was So Competitive He Spent An Hour Practicing A Drinking Game)
“It’s going to be a great honor, to be honest. It’s like standing up for a family member,” Jordan said, according to Bleacher Report. “He paid me the highest respect by trying to emulate certain things I did. And I can only repay that by showing my support and admiration for a guy who I felt was one of the greatest to ever play the game.”
The legendary basketball player, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were en route to the Mamba Academy for a basketball tournament when the helicopter suddenly crashed into a mountainside.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner deemed all nine deaths an accident on Jan. 29 in a press release. The cause of death for Bryant and the other passengers was listed as blunt trauma.