Michael Jordan has been selected to induct the late Kobe Bryant into the National Basketball Association’s Hall of Fame next month.
Los Angeles Lakers icon Bryant, who died in January 2020 in a helicopter accident alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gigi, will be recognized in the delayed Class of 2020.
Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will join Bryant in being inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame.
Bryant famously listed Jordan, current owner of NBA franchise Charlotte Hornets, and his former coach Phil Jackson as two people he wanted to present him at his Hall of Fame induction.
The ceremony will take place on May 15.
Jordan, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009, choked back tears at the Staples Center in Los Angeles during an event honouring Bryant’s life last year.
‘When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died,’ Jordan said during the ceremony.
It was well documented during Bryant’s 20-year NBA career, all of it spent in the purple and gold of the LA Lakers, that he sought advice from Jordan, widely considered as the greatest NBA player of all time.