PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 31: Michael Jackson performs during the Halftime show as the Dallas Cowboys take on the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII at Rose Bowl on January 31, 1993 in Pasadena, California. The Cowboys won 52-17. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

When we talk about Kobe Bryant’s ruthless commitment to the game of basketball, they usually compare the Black Mamba to Michael Jordan. But it turns out Kobe actually inherited that ruthless personality from another M.J.: Michael Jackson.

In an interview with HBO’s Andrea Kramer that will air 1o p.m. ET Tuesday night on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, the soon-to-retire legend shared a story from his second year in the NBA.

KOBE BRYANT: “Gold’s Gym in ’98. Liftin’ weights and I get a phone call and it’s Michael Jackson on the other line. And kinda, ‘What the hell is going on?’  Somebody’s playing a practical joke.

ANDREA KREMER: “Michael Jackson calling you at the age of 18?”

KOBE BRYANT: “Age of 18. He’s a big basketball fan. I was starting to get flack for being an introvert and being so serious all the time about the game. And he wanted to call and give me encouragement and say, ‘Don’t change for them. You have to stay focused. If you wanna be one of the all-time greats you have to study the all-time greats. You have to be obsessive about what you do and how you do it.’ And the summertime, I would just disappear. I’d be studying, I’d be researching, I’d be figuring out a way.”

ANDREA KREMER: “Studying, researching—what?”

KOBE BRYANT: “The game. Chicago won another championship. How? Why? How do we get to that level?”

Kobe certainly didn’t let any critics affect his intensity toward his job. Over the next decade and a half he built a Hall of Fame career on ruthless aggression and a total disinterest in anyone who took basketball less serious than he did. That meant feuding with Shaquille O’Neal, bullying Smush Parker and even punching Samaki Walker.

Kobe has spoken previously about his relationship with Michael Jackson, once telling Jimmy Kimmel that the pop singer “really showed me his process,” explaining how he studied hit acts like the Beatles to figure out how to improve his own music. When Jackson died, Kobe wrote an ode recounting how Jackson had told him “It’s O.K. to be that driven; it’s O.K. to be obsessed with what you want to do.”

Kobe’s HBO interview also touched on his impending retirement. While he had previously said he decided to call it quits back in the summer, he told Kramer he decided to retire “Like, four days before I announced (on Nov. 30).”

 

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.