Jordan smiled, then decided to have a little fun. “He was really into coaching Gigi,” MJ explains, “so I hit him up about that.” “Happy holidays,” Jordan texted back, “and hope to catch up soon. Coach Kobe??!” “I added that little crying/laughing emoji,” Jordan chuckles. “Ah, back at you, man,” Kobe wrote. “Hey, coach, I’m sitting on the bench right now, and we’re blowing this team out. 45-8.” Eleven days following that exchange, Bryant learned he had been officially nominated for the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot entry. Forty-nine days later, he was gone.
“I just love that text,” Jordan says, “because it shows Kobe’s competitive nature.”