Kobe Bryant coach, Michael Jordan’s teammate highlights differences between their approach

Craig Hodges appeared on All The Smoke and spoke at length at the differences between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan's preparation.

Kobe Bryant coach, Michael Jordan’s teammate highlights differences between their approach

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are considered perhaps the two most fundamentally sound NBA players of all time. In addition to being the best guards of their era, they were also the blueprint for players coming after them in other regards. Their hyper-competitiveness drove them to lengths that their peers never could match. This competitive streak wasn’t reserved just for on-court performances.

Jordan and Bryant approached game preparation with a holistic view of bettering themselves in the context of their teams. However, Jordan had more physical and athletic talent than Bryant. Therefore, he was more self-assured in his assessment of his opponents. Bryant had a more methodical approach to how he wanted to play against each opponent. He spent more time on film study than Jordan.

Craig Hodges won the NBA’s 3-point challenge twice during his 10 years in the league. He was also a teammate of Michael Jordan during his prime years from 1988-1992. Hodges would then go on to coach Kobe Bryant as an assistant for Phil Jackson during his second Lakers tenure. As a result, Hodges has an inside track to both these all-time greats’ approaches to improving their play.

As a guest on the popular ‘All the Smoke’ podcast recently, Hodges went into an in-depth explanation of what marked Bryant out differently from Jordan in their styles of play. According to Hodges, the biggest advantage that Jordan enjoyed over Bryant was his hand size. Jordan has hands as big as Shaquille O’Neal, who is nearly eight inches taller. This helped Jordan convert fouls into and-one opportunities.

His ability to grip the ball like a baseball gave him more moves to work with than Bryant. But Hodges had immense respect for Bryant’s work ethic. As his coach, Hodges often worked with him on individual skill drills as a defender. Bryant also picked Hodges’ brain and tried to understand how Jordan would approach in-game situations. Hodges described Bryant’s meticulous pre-game preparations thus:

It was like watching Michael. He gassed me. And (his) mannerisms. And then understanding how much he watched him growing up, but to be able to see it, put it in practice, and then go do it. He would call me and say ‘Hodge, we need to work in the morning.’ Okay, I get there at 6:30. And he’s working on four spots that he’s gonna get 30 from that night. And he isn’t taking no shots. (From the) box, elbow, wing. And I’m talking about precision. He wanted a different look every single time, and I would give him that.

Craig Hodges on how Kobe Bryant prepared for games

Craig Hodges explains how Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were extremely similar in competitiveness

LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant
Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant

According to Hodges, Kobe Bryant was the living embodiment of a player could model his game after Michael Jordan. He explained how Bryant would look at specific footwork on Jordan’s moves and decide to score from those specific spots on the floor ahead of games on his schedule.

To play with him (Michael Jordan) and then to watch Kobe and to see Kobe say ‘Alright, I’mma do these two footworks from here, and I’mma get 14 (points). I’mma do these over here, and I’mma get at least 20, and I’m going to the line for four more.’ And we go back, and it be them spots!

Craig Hodges described how Kobe Bryant picked his spots ahead of games to train from

He also described how Bryant was a film junkie, watching tape not just of his own play but that of every team in the league. Bryant was a student of the game who knew how the defense would react to him. He would capitalize on his defense’s tendencies to get easier buckets by analyzing opponents’ film from tip-off to the final whislte, according to Hodges.

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