We Had A Pretty Epic Matchup 21 Years Ago Today
December 17th, 1997. That was the date a 19 year old Kobe Bryant faced off against a 34 year old Michael Jordan in what was an all time battle. At this time Kobe was still coming off the bench for the Lakers given it was just his second year in the league, but he was playing a respectable 26 minutes a night and averaged 15 points on a very respectable 11.6 FGA. Jordan was obviously still the best player on the planet, led the NBA in scoring at over 28 a game and would eventually go on to win his 6th ring before retiring. The Bulls had been playing well heading into this game, this was their third win in a row in what would be an 8 game winning streak and a season in which the Bulls won 62 games.
This would also end up being Kobe’s best game of that entire season, and you could argue his legit coming out party because by the 1998 season he would become a full time starter for the Lakers and the rest was history. What was impressive about this 1997 season was Kobe actually made the All Star team despite only starting 1 game all year, and obviously going toe for toe against Jordan is going to elevate anyone’s status in the league. Thanks to the internet we now have legit HD footage of this head to head battle, and since it’s a Monday afternoon and you are for sure over doing anything today, why not relive one of the best moments in NBA history?
Kobe and Jordan would meet head to head 8 times in their careers with Kobe winning 5 of those meetings, and honestly their head to head stats are eerily similar
We obviously had no idea what we were in store for on this date 21 years ago and it makes you think what matchups are we seeing today that in 20 years we’ll look back on as a battle between all time greats. Crazy to think Jordan was still this good and decided to walk away only to come back three seasons later, and it’s too bad he called it quits at 39 because he just missed LeBron. Considering a 39 year old MJ still was putting up 20 ppg that final season in 2002-03, my guess is his head to head battle with the prodigy many were hyping as the next Jordan would have been must watch stuff. It’s a shame we didn’t get it honestly.