Kobe Bryant vs Michael Jordan Full Duel Highlights at NBA All-Star Game 1998 - 08/02/1998

The combination of skill and flair that Kobe Bryant brings to the game has already captivated the country. Kobe definitely brings the skill and the flair, you know, he's a very exciting player, he's entertaining. The thing that I'm amazed at, at a very young age, is he already understands how to entertain the fans. And he and Michael Jordan have promised us in their interviews that they will put on the show here today. It's not known for passing, but more so for scoring. Here is Michael, the head fake on Garnett, over him into the lane, with the game's first hoop. So much for being sick. Rolls around off this down screen, he freezes his switched off defender, and he gets right in the lane. There's no way Kevin Garnett has the lateral ability to stay with Michael. He's trying to increase the competition, the competitive level that's happening out there. Payton with the spin, Bryant, Kobe's first all-star hoop. A Laker connection here, Kobe Bryant along that baseline, off the back screen by Shaquille O'Neal. And this is the crowd responding to Ali's image on the jumbotron overhead. As we come back, Jordan takes the quick inbound pass, and his shot rattles out, here comes Bryant, ahead of the field, with a slap! That puts a marathon in a clap. A lot of centers don't outlet the ball anymore, they want to be involved in their own office, but Shaq knows how important Kobe's electricity is to the team. Setting him up, the delivery, the spin, what's that, the helicopter? He looked a little impatient there that last trip down the floor. He's got the ball in his hands again, to Garnett, back to Kobe! See, that's Kobe and Garnett. Kobe Bryant in transition, he's going to give it up here, and then Kevin Garnett showing I asked all these players who their heroes were coming up, I think your name came up all the time, but Kevin Garnett, he said that his favorite player, he wanted to be like Magic Johnson, and he's showing it right there, setting up the finish for Kobe, well above the rim. Hill gets a piece of the pass, and Kemp comes away with it. Kemp pushing it up the floor, takes it in, dumps it off to Hill, and the reverse isn't there, but Jordan stuffs it home! Michael Jordan finished plays that other people couldn't. Grand Hill unable to get the reverse layup, and Michael, everybody else is standing, and to me, that's the beauty of Michael Jordan. It's about timing, it's about positioning. Everybody else is going to be down on the floor, not knowing where the ball is, and Michael, high above the rim. Everybody else, only a spectator. Jason Williams of the Nets checks in, Jordan, baseline, got it! The thing that's happening out here today is nobody's double-teaming. How much did you listen to your own star coaches, I say? I listened to them all the time, because I was young and brave, I told you that. Count it! What's the foul for Jordan, who now has eight and a chance for nine? Michael told him, bring your A-game, and if you don't bring your A-game, I'm going to embarrass you. Michael, get him on the low post right here, and then give him the fake, and the fade, and the lean. And you get the little bounce, and the skip. That's when you know he's in his rhythm. To be the next great player in this game, you're going to have to work as hard as Michael Jordan, but also have the myriad of skills. The outside jumper, the creativity, and the incredible athleticism that enables you to finish like Kobe Bryant. Glenn Rice and Reggie Miller getting set to check in. Rick Smith is already in games. The Pacer Center, here he is, his first shot. He's making his initial all-star appearance. Ahmad Meshad back at Madison Square Garden. Michael, see, now you weren't feeling well when the game started, but once you got out there, you and Kobe going one-on-one, it got exciting. Well, I mean, he's coming at me. I mean, I think that's the approach. He's being very, very aggressive. And, you know, if I knew someone was sick, certainly the first thing I'd do, I'd go out to someone. But, you know, I've got to defend myself. You know, I'm going to be right there. He's got to play defense, just like I've got to play defense. I noticed that you woke up, though. You know, you were kind of like gliding. And once Kobe started going at you, you came back. I'm just trying to get my legs underneath me. I haven't been near basketball for three or four days. And I haven't been up out of bed for that long. So, I mean, I'm not trying to overdo things. But he's doing the right thing. He's coming at me, which he's supposed to. But I have to defend myself. It does count. Oh, yeah, it counts a lot. The king is not dead, Bob. Kemp back the other way. Even the big men who play like guards, or at least try to in this game, they all want to show they've got a handle. Jordan left alone. That's usually not a real good idea. But Michael Jordan has the real handle. Van Exel trying to find Kobe. Too long off the glass. Jordan back on the wing to Smith. Off the baseline. Halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago. He said his dreams as a kid was just to go to Division I and be on TV every now and then. Now there he is at the ultimate game. Gives it up to Kemp inside. Robinson deflects the shot. And his teammate, Tunkin, has it. Last minute of the half. Can't finish it, but Peyton can. What team does she play for, Bob, in the WNBA? There's no business like NBA business. In the last three seconds, Peyton with the left-handed Bryant. Something to take into the locker room. I'm Bobby Short back in Madison Square Garden. I'm joined by Michael Jordan. Now everybody is excited about this showdown between you and Kobe. Now how do you see it to first half? First of all, I don't consider it a showdown, but I think we both are trying to do our job to entertain and we're trying to play as hard and not try to isolate ourselves away from the rest of the players. So, I mean, in the mix of that, we will have our times where we go one-on-one, but I'm not going to try to do it too often because I don't want to take away from the other guys being here. But you will not shy away from that isolation? I will defend myself with that. All right, let's go down to Jim, who's with Kobe. Jim? All right, thank you very much. You might as well get the response. You're not shying away at all from Michael. You're going after him, aren't you, Kobe? I'm just having fun. I'm having a good time. Michael's a great player, one of the best players of all time. There's no better way to learn the game than going at him. But you've issued a bit of a challenge, and he's got his pride up, doesn't he? Oh, yeah, me too. That's how you play the game. That's how I grew up playing the game, and I'm sure he did too, and they play out here as well. So that's what makes this game interesting. Now, there have been a couple of smiles exchanged between you two. Have there been any words? No. Good luck in the second half. Thank you. And in 96, Shaq had 25 points and 10 rebounds in San Antonio. Jordan steals it, sets Penny up. He juggled it a little so he couldn't go into the full-fledged act there, so he just kind of lays it in. So Jordan deserved the MVP, which he also did last year. Shaquille O'Neal. Now, that move that Shaq just performed, his native country, and he's planning on building a couple of hospitals there. Raises a ton of money. He's bringing the entire NBA over there for a big all-star game next September in South Africa, Bob. He doesn't know what to do without his partner out there. But if he gets hot, like he says, he wants a lot of time, and he wants the ball. MJ swears he'll sideline a goaltending call on Shaquille O'Neal, but he really took the youngster to school on that exchange. Isolated along the baseline, the back of Downey. A look inside, a little hitch, the step underneath. Kobe hung out to dry. Shaq only the goaltend possibly. That's what teammates do. That's what Shaq said. Kobe for three. That's where Kobe is much better than creating off his own dribble. One quick dribble here. There's so many of these 6'7'' guys like Grant Hill. Ryan puts it up because I'm not sure I've ever seen that move before, but the official said, hey, it's a show. We're watching it like everybody else. That's the same dribble move that he used in the first half. It's a move that I haven't seen in basketball before. His creativity is amazing. They're all standing with their own guys so they don't get dunked on. Defense taking a holiday, especially in the last few minutes. Uncontested layups. Bryant with a three, displaying the full range. He has the incredible hook sandwiched in between a pair of threes and now Hill with the slam. Isaiah Thomas and Bill Walton have seen an awful lot of basketball. They said they've never seen a player move like that. Where did you learn that one? Really just playing on the playgrounds for the Delphians when I came back from Europe. Picked up a few tricks here and there. How much did you practice that for this game specifically? Not much. When I get in this game, I just basically try to play off of instincts. Now, come on. You had to practice that a little bit. You told me you had a little something special. Was that it? No, not yet. Not yet? You got something else in there. If I get the opportunity to, I will, yeah. Eighteen points. You think an MVP at all if you can come back? No, I don't know. I'm just out there playing. All right, Kobe. We look forward to the next trick, Bob. But that's what makes the Chicago situation so bizarre because they all want the people in Chicago to love him. Britton nails a three for emphasis as regardless of what friction there may be. As we watch Michael hit the triple again between Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause and Phil Jackson. Regardless of how enamored Jerry Krause may be or Tim Floyd of Iowa will contend for one. And if Michael Jordan says this is what I want and it's worked to the tune of five titles and maybe seven had Michael not gone away to play baseball, what's the problem in bringing them all back? College at St. John's now representing the New Jersey Nats with Patrick Ewing hurt. There's no Nick in the game. Miller for three as he's done so often in this building. And he turns to face Spike Lee. And that's when Joe and I looked at each other and said, you know, I think we're getting a little too old for this stuff now. Jordan spins into the lane. They up and under. It's there for him. And you obviously told Shaq to inbound the ball. Bob Pettit on the Hawks in 1958. Dr. J in 1977. Magic Johnson in 1990. Rick Smits from ahead of the key. Did not play well in the playoffs. And it was because he stopped working out off the court. Worked out throughout the season in that weight room with his physical trainer. Go for the jersey. Forget the shoes. Kobe over to congratulate Michael. He's looking for him. There they are. And this may be as close to a torch passing as we'll see. All right. Thank you very much, Bob. Well, Kobe, you didn't get back in the game the last 18 minutes. George Carl iced you a little bit. Were you disappointed? No, not really. I just like to come out here and have some fun. I had my fun. And I was able to rest a little bit. Now, Eric, this experience, how much fun was it for you? It was incredible. I mean, I was matched up with Mike. We had a chance to go head to head a little bit. It was incredible. Now, Michael Jordan has indicated that this might be his last year. How big of a disappointment would that be for you and how much more can you learn from him? Well, you can never stop learning. Every time I play against Mike, I learn something new. Disappointed? I don't know. Because without him, I wouldn't be here right now. What did you learn tonight? What was the new thing you learned from him tonight? Well, I can't tell you that. I got to keep all that to myself. For all the future basketball players out there who are coming out of high school, I can't give up my secrets. You embraced each other. Did he say anything to you? And has the torch kind of been passed tonight? I don't know. I think we just went out, played hard, competed a little bit, basically keep up the hard work. Now, Magic Johnson said that they want to bring you along slowly, and Del Harris has tried to do that. Did that task just become a little bit more difficult after today's game? I don't know. I hope so. Congratulations to you, Kobe. We look forward to seeing you many more years. There's one star who is the star of stars tonight, amongst the greatest athletes in the world. I'm only going to allow him to have his trophy if he promises to come back and do it again. The all-star of all-stars, the MVP, Michael Jordan. Michael, you know how much you love playing here in New York. This has to be special for you to win it here in New York. It is special. I've had some great games here. The fans have always treated me with the utmost respect. I think to come back here and play in front of the fans here means a lot. This is basketball's mecca, and I've enjoyed playing here, and I look forward to hopefully coming back one day. Was that a hand shake? For all the fans here, and I'm sure all the fans at home, don't leave. Come on back and play again. I will. I don't have a problem coming back. Honorary, I don't have a problem. Congratulations, Michael. Let's go over to you, Bob.