Michael Jordan

Does Kobe want to be like Mike? It sure looks like it when watching the video above. But then again, these comparisons between Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan are never new. Bryant holds Jordan in high esteem for how many championships he's won, how he scored at a prolific rate, how he maintained his competitive edge and how he embraced new challenges. The Lakers' star has admitted he uses Jordan's six titles as a barometer. Considering he has five rings himself, Bryant's not far off. Phil Jackson, who coached Jordan and Bryant, once said the Lakers' star is highly motivated to surpass Jordan's third-place mark on the NBA's all-time scoring list (32,292)

The Charlotte Hornets are coming back. At least that's what Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan announced at a news conference Tuesday. The name change must be approved by the NBA Board of Governors, which will meet in July, but Jordan was optimistic about its approval, the Associated Press reported. The decision to bring back the namesake of the former Charlotte team was expected after the announcement earlier this season that the New Orleans Hornets would change their name to the Pelicans.

Phil Jackson never liked to compare Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan. Believe me, I tried everything. Sometimes I'd ask him after random Lakers practices or before games against Charlotte, the team Jordan owned. Or after games in Chicago, where nostalgia hopefully would add to the mix. There would be a little nugget here, a tiny nibble there, but nothing that mattered. It's coming out now, though, in Jackson's 339-page memoir co-written with Hugh Delehanty and available Tuesday: "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.

Kobe Bryant set the record straight on Twitter on Sunday night about the notion of an early retirement. Really?? Me. Retire?? Soon, but not yet Vino still has work to do #35 #OG #kbvff - Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) Speculation ran rampant over the weekend after Bryant posted a cryptic message on Facebook, "You won't want to miss the Sports Spectacular Livestream Sunday #mambavideo #surprise #announcement. " Bryant is recovering from April surgery to repair a torn Achilles' tendon but his announcement had nothing to do with retirement. Instead, Bryant will hold an event, "Kobe up Close," on Aug. 15 to raise money to help eradicate homelessness.

The mystery surrounding the bizarre disappearance of the father of Chicago Bulls basketball superstar Michael Jordan was partially solved Friday when a body that had been found floating in a South Carolina creek on Aug. 3 was identified as that of James Jordan. Officials said that the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the chest. Jordan, 57, had been missing for three weeks and it wasn't until Thursday that the matter became public.

Michael Jordan may be the greatest player in NBA history, but even he can't get away with wearing cargo shorts on a golf course. Jordan showed up at La Gorce Country Club in Miami on Wednesday wearing cargo shorts, which is against the dress code at the facility. Apparently no one noticed until he played a few holes of his round, because while on the 12th hole, Jordan was approached by club personnel who asked that he return to the clubhouse and change his pants. Jordan refused.

Who is the best player in the NBA? Kobe Bryant? LeBron James? While that debate rages on, the greatest player in NBA history, Michael Jordan, has found another way to surpass them. He leads them in AARP membership cards, 1-0. In recognition of Jordan's 50th birthday Sunday, the American Assn. of Retired Persons released a photo of its present to him: His first AARP card. Every 50-year-old is eligible to join AARP, and Jordan finally reached that magic number. So, MJ, next time you go golfing, whip out that card and score a discount.

Central Florida senior guard Marcus Jordan , a 21-year-old son of NBA legend Michael Jordan , was arrested outside a hotel in Omaha early Sunday morning. Jordan was charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and obstructing officers, according to a news release. Police responding to a call at the Embassy Suites found hotel security trying to subdue Marcus Jordan, who was having an argument with two women in the hotel driveway at 2:11 a.m. The release stated Jordan was "very animated, intoxicated and uncooperative," and it took multiple officers to control and handcuff him. Jordan was booked at the Douglas County Department of Corrections.

PHOENIX - Of all the questions related to the ownership change the Dodgers were asked Wednesday morning, they had particular trouble answering one. Who was better: Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan? Matt Kemp burst out laughing. From a couple of lockers away, Jerry Hairston Jr. shouted at Kemp: “Tell the truth! Tell the truth!” Kemp continued smiling. “Both of them were great athletes, so I'll keep it at that,” Kemp said. When Dee Gordon was asked the question, he responded: “You can't do that to me, man. I can't go there.

“I can't believe I'm typing this.” So teased the subject line of the latest in a string of email blasts from BarackObama.com clawing to even the fundraising battle with Mitt Romney. The latest pitch: a $3 (minimum) campaign donation gets the winner and a guest a trip to “meet the President - and shoot hoops with some of the best basketball players alive.” Those who take the bait click through to an Obama webpage that touts the “Obama Classic” as a chance to run some hoops - or play H-O-R-S-E - with Michael Jordan, Carmelo Anthony, Sheryl Swoopes, Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing and players to be named later.

Phil Jackson was just messing with us, once again. The wily former coach of the Lakers and Chicago Bulls wrote a book in 2004 that was called "The Last Season. " It seemed true at the time, but the legendary leader came back for a six-year run with the Lakers and highlighted it in his new memoir available next Tuesday, "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success. " Jackson often refused to compare Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, but he does so on several occasions in his new book, co-written with Hugh Delehanty and published by Penguin Press.

Phil Jackson never liked to compare Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan. Believe me, I tried everything. Sometimes I'd ask him after random Lakers practices or before games against Charlotte, the team Jordan owned. Or after games in Chicago, where nostalgia hopefully would add to the mix. There would be a little nugget here, a tiny nibble there, but nothing that mattered. It's coming out now, though, in Jackson's 339-page memoir co-written with Hugh Delehanty and available Tuesday: "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.

Michael Jordan married longtime girlfriend Yvette Prieto in Palm Beach, Fla., over the weekend. But you probably already knew that. In fact, there's a pretty good chance you were actually at the wedding of the 50-year-old NBA legend and the 35-year-old former model from Cuba, or at least the lavish reception held at a private golf club in Jupiter near Jordan's home. Somewhere between 300 and 500 guests were transported by tour buses to the ceremony Saturday at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church.

Lots of parents have named their sons Jordan after Michael Jordan, the NBA Hall of Famer. There could be a day parents name their daughters Jordin after Jordin Canada, the junior point guard from Los Angeles Windward who might be the best in the nation as a ball handler and facilitator. She has been selected the girls' basketball player of the year in Southern California by The Times. At 5 feet 7, she towered over opponents by the way she controlled games in helping Windward win its first 32 games until a 60-45 loss to Oakland Bishop O'Dowd in the CIF state championship Open Division final.

Michael Jordan once gave up basketball and then came back. Now, he's coming back to married life too. The NBA legend and his fiancee, Yvette Prieto, went to the Palm Beach County, Fla., courthouse Thursday to apply for a marriage license, according to Kathy Burstein, a spokeswoman for the clerk's office. Jordan and Prieto announced their engagement in December, 2011, so they certainly aren't rushing into anything. The license is valid until May 9. It would be Jordan's second marriage.

It is a day after the Charlotte Bobcats lost to the Clippers, 106-84, and the Bobcats have practice at an El Segundo health club where the Clippers used to practice before they got their own facility. Mike Dunlap, 55, is standing in a corner as his players straggle in. No one makes eye contact with Dunlap, who says, in a matter-of-fact voice, "Stretch. " And, with some more quickly than others, stretching happens. If it doesn't feel like a happy place to be - the Bobcats have the worst record in the NBA, and less than a month ago their star Ben Gordon defied his coach by refusing to stop bouncing a basketball and listen - Dunlap refuses to be negative.

Michael Jordan still picks Kobe Bryant over LeBron James. Jordan, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel , said he views the Lakers star guard as the more successful player to date when compared to the Miami Heat All-Star. "If you had to pick between the two, that would be a tough choice," said Jordan, "but five beats one every time I look at it. " Bryant has five titles with the Lakers with seven trips to the NBA Finals. James has one championship with three finals' appearances.

It's not as if there has been a lot of suspense leading up to this moment. Michael Jordan hasn't chewed his fingernails down to the cuticles wondering whether this, at long last, might be the year he gets into the Hall of Fame. But to act as if it's no big deal that he's being inducted into the Hall -- duh, of course MJ is a Hall of Famer! -- is wrong too. The man deserves his due. The best way to describe Jordan's place here is to say that the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has been living a diminished life without him. By definition, there can't be a basketball hall of fame -- lowercase, uppercase, generic, whatever -- without Michael Jordan.

Who is the best player in the NBA? Kobe Bryant? LeBron James? While that debate rages on, the greatest player in NBA history, Michael Jordan, has found another way to surpass them. He leads them in AARP membership cards, 1-0. In recognition of Jordan's 50th birthday Sunday, the American Assn. of Retired Persons released a photo of its present to him: His first AARP card. Every 50-year-old is eligible to join AARP, and Jordan finally reached that magic number. So, MJ, next time you go golfing, whip out that card and score a discount.

Last week, Michael Jordan said that he would pick Kobe Bryant over LeBron James. While Jordan said James could finish his career with more championships, Bryant currently has James out-paced 5-1. "Five beats one every time I look at it," said Jordan. Naturally Bryant agreed with Jordan. "I don't understand what the big hype [is].  It's real. It's real talk. I mean, we're in it to win championships, period," said Bryant on SiriusXM's "Off the Dribble" with Justin Termine and Sam Mitchell on Saturday.