Michael Jordan shares final text messages from Kobe Bryant

NBC News — Michael Jordan said that he still gets choked up when looking at a series of 17-month old texts.

Jordan and the late basketball icon Kobe Bryant chatted via text about family, hoops and tequila just weeks before his death, the Chicago Bulls legend revealed.

Jordan told ESPN that he’s kept the final texts even if they inevitably bring a tear to his eye.

“He was just so happy,” Jordan said of Bryant’s final weeks of life. “He was doing so well.”

The two basketball stars exchanged messages on December 8 2019, seven weeks before Bryant, 41, his 13-year-old daughter Gigi, six friends, and a pilot were killed when their helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California.

“This tequila is awesome,” Bryant texted in reference to Jordan’s Cincoro Tequila which had been sent to the retired L.A. Lakers guard.

“Thank you, my brother,” Jordan responded.

“Yes, sir. Family good?” Bryant replied.

“All good. Yours?”

“All good.”

“Happy holidays,” Jordan texted back, “and hope to catch up soon. Coach Kobe??!”

“Ah, back at you, man,” Bryant wrote. “Hey, coach, I’m sitting on the bench right now, and we’re blowing this team out. 45-8.”

The fact Bryant was taking such joy coaching a girls basketball team summed up the “Black Mamba’s” passion for the game, Jordan said.

“I just love that text,” Jordan said, “because it shows Kobe’s competitive nature.”

Bryant and Jordan were fierce competitors in the NBA, with Jordan leading the Bulls to six NBA titles as Bryant won five rings in L.A.

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