This story was originally published on April 13, 2016. Kobe Bryant will be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2020 class.

BY THE TIME he was 14, Kobe Bryant had made up his mind: His quest for basketball greatness would be a solitary journey.

It was easier that way. He approached the game with such ferocity that it alarmed his friends, his teammates, even his family. It prompted others to shrink away, as if his obsession were a disease that might be contagious. He contracted it as a boy in Philadelphia, where he exhausted himself to keep up with older sisters Sharia and Shaya; it spread in Italy, where his father played professionally and an 8-year-old Kobe immersed himself in the game. By the time Bryant was a senior at Lower Merion High School outside Philadelphia, it had consumed him. He wasn't content with just beating his opponent. He needed to break him.

He inflicted one humiliation after the next, dunking when a layup would do, scoring with such force against overmatched peers that he reduced them to tears. Subjected to admonishments and withering stares, Kobe concluded: I'm alone in this.

In 1996, his rookie year with the Lakers, his teammates scoffed at the aloof teenager who treated every possession like Armageddon. When they said he was too serious about basketball, Kobe wondered how that was even possible. When they dubbed him Showboat, he sought out his general manager, Jerry West, who urged Kobe to resist style over substance. Showboat, West told him, was a moniker for guys who didn't play the right way: "Stop trying to do too much." West says what he did not do was condemn Kobe for being detached from his teammates. He couldn't. "Talk about an isolated teammate," West recalls, "I was much the same way."

Flash forward to the summer following his rookie season, and Bryant is lifting weights at Gold's Gym in Venice, California, desperate to chisel his adolescent frame into a man-sized body. He's balancing a barbell on his shoulders when his Nextel cellphone rings midsquat. He almost lets it go to voicemail, but curiosity wins out.

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"Hi, it's Michael," the voice on the line says.

"Michael who?"

"Michael Jackson."

Bryant is incredulous. Kobe has never spoken to Michael Jackson before. It doesn't sound like the King of Pop; the voice is lower, subdued, devoid of the childlike whisper Jackson uses onstage. "He's calling me out of the f------ blue," Bryant remembers now. "I don't think it's a real phone call."

It is. It turns out Jackson has been studying the young Bryant from afar, and he has called to offer advice, one idiosyncratic phenom to another.

"Keep doing what you're doing," Jackson implores him. "Don't come back to the pack and be normal for the sake of blending in with others. Don't dumb it down."

The conversation lasts no more than 15 minutes, but the two men click. Jackson clearly knows the NBA, rattling off a string of Lakers factoids. Kobe, a fan of Michael's music, has questions of his own. They come tumbling out: Who were your early influences? How did you make Thriller? What prompted you to buy the catalog of the Beatles' music? When Jackson invites Bryant to join him at Neverland Ranch so the two can trade notes on how they approach their crafts, the 18-year-old Bryant jumps at the chance.

The Neverland Ranch, outside Los Olivos, California, is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Bryant's home in Pacific Palisades through rolling hills and canyons. Bryant misjudges the distance, arriving nearly out of gas. Not to worry, Jackson says, you can fill up at my private gas station. A 2,700-acre cornucopia of childlike delights, Neverland also boasts an amusement park with a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster, a petting zoo housing a llama, orangutans, an elephant and giraffes, and a steam engine named after Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine.

Inside the French Normandy residence, the two men share a meal of marinated chicken and organic vegetables."He told me, 'This is what you love. This is your obsession,'" Bryant recalls. "He said, 'I know what it's like to be different. Embrace it.'"

After dinner, Jackson presents Bryant with a gift, a copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a novella about an outcast bird who's unwilling to conform. Then they drive half a mile to Jackson's private 5,500-square-foot theater, adorned with billboards for old films, a flowing fountain and a concession stand stocked with boxed treats and cotton candy.

The theater has a state-of-the-art sound system, plush velvet seats and trapdoors for magic shows. Bryant has never heard of Grace Kelly, Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers, but during a private film showing of their work, Michael explains how they were the inspiration for Jackson's 1988 "Smooth Criminal" music video and describes the lineage of his music, breaking down songs note by note, taking Bryant through the process of recording "Billie Jean." Jackson tells Kobe that he is transfixed by the success of the Beatles, that he initiated friendships with Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono just to learn more. Your curiosity is your greatest gift, Jackson says. Use it to expand your scope. Ordinary people won't understand your insatiable thirst for excellence. They won't bother to keep striving because it's too onerous, too difficult.

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"You've got to study all the greats," Jackson tells Kobe. "You've got to learn what made them successful and what made them unsuccessful."

As Bryant drives home through Santa Barbara County -- a full tank of Neverland gas in his car -- his front seat is cluttered with copies of classic movies Jackson has given him: An American in Paris, Singing in the Rain, Farewell My Concubine. It's Kobe's homework, along with an additional reading assignment: Napoleon Hill's Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude.

Kobe arrives back in Pacific Palisades well after midnight and stays up much of the night devouring Jackson's offerings. What Jackson has provided Bryant -- in the form of old movies, pop psychology and dated self-help books -- is an invitation to be like him. An invitation that would shape one of the greatest, and most controversial, careers in NBA history.

FOR ALL HIS genius, Kobe Bryant is a thief. He's the first person to say as much. He pilfered Oscar Robertson's pump fake, swiped Jerry West's quick release, copied Elgin Baylor's footwork. But the one big heist he couldn't quite pull off in his early years was Michael Jordan's patented fadeaway.

It is Dec. 17, 1997, Bryant's second NBA season, and the Lakers have just lost 104-83 in their lone trip to Chicago, Kobe bounding off the bench to score 33 points in 29 minutes, matching the output of the entire Lakers starting lineup. After the game, Jordan, a few months shy of 35, approaches Bryant: "If you ever need anything, give me a call." With Jackson's advice still fresh in his mind, the 19-year old Bryant pounces, peppering Jordan right then and there about his fallaway. How do you determine your release point? Is misdirection critical to creating space?

"I think Michael recognized some of him in me," Bryant says. "He understood we were a scary type."

Bryant had in fact met Jordan before, when Kobe was a high school senior and attended a Bulls-Sixers game at the Spectrum in March 1996.

After the game, as Bryant and Julius Erving (who played with Kobe's father, Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant, on the Sixers) chatted in the corridor, Jordan joined the conversation. Bryant told them both he would be turning pro that June, and as he left, Dr. J and Jordan exchanged knowing glances. The kid had an intensity they recognized all too well. Bryant, for his part, left the conversation convinced that he had discovered kindred spirits. "I was a little psychopath," Kobe says. "I was as obsessed as they were."

When the start of the 1998-99 season is delayed by a labor dispute, it allows time for Kobe to reach out to Jordan again, this time through a series of pointed questions on containing bigger players in the post -- the likes of Latrell Sprewell, Mitch Richmond, Jimmy Jackson and Bryon Russell, all stronger and more physical than Kobe is. Jordan tutors Kobe: how to hold players off, how to push them to their weak side, how to fool them into thinking they have a clear lane, how to back off so the bigger player can't feel where the defense is.

"They were fundamental things," Bryant says, "obviously things he had learned at Carolina under the great tutelage of Dean Smith. I never had that. Speaking to MJ was like getting my own college education at the highest level."

For decades, this conversation would continue on topics ranging from the weight of expectation to the protection of privacy -- one famously monomaniacal champion advising the very man who so clearly wanted to be him. Or better him.

"He has that tunnel vision where you only think about winning, not other people's perception of you," Jordan says. "You might not like Kobe, but you know what? He couldn't care less."

A few years later, in the summer of 2000, after Bryant has won his first title and anticipates an extended run with teammate and occasional foil Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe feasts on Bill Russell's book Second Wind, marking pages that touch upon race, teamwork and coaching philosophies. He mentions the book to Michael Jackson, whom he still speaks with at least once a month, and the pop icon urges him to reach out to the Hall of Fame center, winner of 11 championships in 13 seasons with the Celtics.

"People say 'Bill Russell can't score,'" Russell tells Kobe by phone that August. "Well, I could score plenty, but we had other guys who were better at it, so I let them do it. Sometimes you have to step back to allow others to step forward."

Then Russell drops a gem about Wilt Chamberlain, his rival and longtime friend. There were times, Russell says, when he'd let Wilt score. "Bill didn't want to activate Wilt," Kobe says. "He felt if he defended Wilt too well, then Wilt would take that as a challenge. And if he did, Wilt was going to demolish Bill because he was so physically big and strong. So Bill felt if he could appease Wilt, let him score once in a while, then Wilt would remain satisfied and Bill could keep him at bay."

Bryant tucks it into his memory bank. "I'm thinking, 'That's Art of War s---. I'm going to try that.'"

Bryant refuses to name players he used the strategy against. But former teammates and coaches have no such compunction, naming Tracy McGrady and, later, a young LeBron James as players Kobe rope-a-doped. When asked to confirm the names, Kobe laughs. "I will neither confirm or deny," he says.

FROM 2000 TO 2002, the Lakers win three straight titles, and Bryant is on top of the basketball world -- and 23 years old. In 2001, Jackson releases his 10th studio album, Invincible, which sells 10 million copies. It was, unbeknownst to both of them, the beginning of their mutual end.

The Lakers advance to the Western Conference semis in 2003 but lose to the Spurs in six games. Roughly a month later, Bryant clandestinely books a trip to Eagle, Colorado, to have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee at the Steadman Clinic and is later arrested for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old hotel worker, who claims the Lakers superstar had raped her while he was there.

Five months later, Jackson is formally charged with seven counts of sexual abuse, the result of allegations made by a young boy who had spent time at Neverland Ranch with Jackson. It is, in fact, the second time Jackson has been accused of illicit acts with underage boys; the first, 10 years prior, never went to trial.

It might seem plausible that these parallel events could draw Jackson and Bryant closer, two disgraced icons united by scandal. In fact, the opposite occurs.

Both men brace themselves for the legal troubles and PR nightmares to follow. The charges against both are horrific. It isn't just a matter of sullied reputations; if convicted, both face lengthy prison sentences. Bryant and Jackson reach the same unspoken conclusion: Their continued friendship could only fuel the ongoing firestorm.

"It was crazy," Bryant says. "We kinda lost touch ... because we both had issues."

On July 4, 2003, Bryant is formally charged with sexual assault and released on $25,000 bond. Endorsements for Bryant and Jackson evaporate. Though charges against Bryant are later dropped -- he settles a civil suit for an undisclosed sum that requires him to apologize but make no admission of guilt to the victim -- and Jackson is found not guilty of all charges on June 13, 2005, their images are shattered.

The allegations crush Jackson, the public backlash a devastating blow from which he never recovers. Bryant, though, goes the other way, anointing himself with a new nickname, Black Mamba, a poisonous snake. Jordan today remains steadfast in his support of Bryant: "One of the reasons I admire Kobe the most is how he took that negative and turned it into a positive," Jordan says. "He changed his life. He continued to dedicate himself to the game and made sure that one incident would not define him." But Jordan hardly represents the conventional public sentiment. Hatred is hurled at Bryant in every NBA arena. And the Black Mamba, in turn, revels in it. A concerned West reaches out, imploring Bryant to tap into his humility -- if such a thing even exists. "Find it," West urges him. "It will save you."

WHEN KOBE BRYANT was in 8th grade, he wrote a book report on Lew Alcindor, who would later become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. For Bryant's first nine years in LA, Abdul-Jabbar was an apparition, disconnected from the franchise he helped lead to glory.

That all changes when the Lakers hire Abdul-Jabbar in 2005 to work with big man Andrew Bynum. Suddenly, Kareem is around every day, and Kobe approaches the Lakers legend armed with his usual array of questions, a veritable Jonathan Livingston Seagull. How did you bridge the generations between playing with Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson? What did your Bucks team do to sustain its 20-game winning streak during the 1970-71 championship season?

Bryant is mesmerized by Kareem's philosophies on how the mind connects to the body and his stories of sparring with martial arts legend Bruce Lee. "Kareem told me, 'I could never find him,'" Kobe says. "He'd go to hit Bruce here, and he'd be over there. So Kareem would lunge there and Bruce would be over here again. He just couldn't get his hands on him. It was a great exercise for spacing, agility and vision."

Bryant comes to crave his talks with Abdul-Jabbar, whose reputation for being unapproachable is hardly a thing to stop Bryant. "So Kareem is aloof," Bryant says. "And Michael is supposed to be an a--hole because he made Steve Kerr cry. Doesn't matter to me. I made people cry too."

Indeed he did. Perhaps you've heard the legendary tale of how Kobe once elbowed teammate Sasha Vujacic in the face during a 2004-05 practice, causing Vujacic to burst into tears? What you do not know is that following the incident, Kobe calls Jordan, seeking his counsel. Even Kobe wonders: Has he gone too far?

"Sometimes you have to be an a--hole," says Jordan today when asked about that conversation. "Sometimes your teammates are going to hate you, but all the guys I went after -- Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Jud Buechler -- they won multiple championships, so I'm pretty sure they understand."

AS BRYANT'S CAREER unfolds, he continues to seek insight from his own personal Mount Rushmore of NBA legends.

First comes Magic Johnson, part-owner of the Lakers and a man whose cellphone mailbox proves perpetually full. For whatever reason, Kobe says, "I had trouble getting to him."

But in the winter of 2009, with the Lakers coming off a crushing Finals loss to the Celtics the previous season, Bryant arrives three hours early at the practice facility and discovers Magic sitting in the breakfast room. The two sit together, alone, for two hours, Kobe chastising Magic for being critical about him in the press, Magic challenging Kobe to use his influence in the community.

"It was a breakthrough moment for us," Magic says. "At the time, Kobe was saying, 'I'm going to do my job, then I'm out.' I told him, 'No, you have to be more than that.' I said, 'What do you want your legacy to look like? It can't just be about winning championships and killing everybody.'"

Kobe listens, then counters. "My personality is more in line with Michael's than yours.'"

"That's fine," Magic says. "Nobody's saying you have to go around smiling, hugging people. That's me, not you. Stay you, but effect change by being you."

In June, Bryant is still basking in the glow of his fourth championship, a victory over Dwight Howard and the Magic, when his cellphone jingles. It's a call from Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, who tells Bryant how happy her son was that Bryant had "proven everyone wrong."

Although Bryant hasn't spoken to Jackson in nearly six years, Katherine tells him that Michael is planning a comeback tour, This Is It. He wants Kobe to share in the experience.

"He was getting ready to rehearse at the Forum," Kobe says. "We had talked for years about watching each other train and prepare."

Instead, days later, Bryant reads a breaking-news crawl on his TV, informing him Jackson has died.

"Michael Jackson was probably the biggest mentor I've ever had," Bryant says. "That phone call in Gold's Gym literally changed my life." The man Kobe dubbed the "greatest influence of my life" is gone. Yet Jackson's bizarre and troubling behavior in his final years -- he was a shadow of the savant who had summoned him to his ranch more than a decade before -- does nothing to change Bryant's opinion of him.

"He wasn't normal," Kobe says. "Most geniuses aren't."

LATER THAT SUMMER, Bryant, now 31, notices his lift isn't as explosive as it once was. Kobe pops open his laptop and emails Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon, the master of the low post. "He had mentioned before that he'd like to work out with me," Olajuwon says. "I thought he was just saying that as a way to [give me] a compliment."

Bryant flies to Olajuwon's Katy, Texas, ranch in his private plane. He wants to learn it all: the devastating drop step, the fallaway, the Dream Shake. For four hours, Bryant implements the same moves, over and over again. Drive, stop, pivot, turn, release. Drive, stop, pivot, turn, release.

Take it slow, Olajuwon says. We need to break each move down. Use your quickness and agility to create room in the post.

"At first he was a little awkward because it wasn't his natural movement," Olajuwon says, "but by the time he was done he was so fluid. How quickly he got it -- that was unbelievable." Says Olajuwon, who's worked with Howard, Yao Ming and LeBron, among others: "Kobe was the one who got it the fastest and used it the most." As for Bryant's famous arrogance? "If you are all about ego, you don't come down to my ranch."

Three years later, Celtics great Larry Bird is on the golf course, on hiatus from his job as president of the Pacers, when his phone rings.

"Hey, it's Kobe. Got a minute?" Kobe tells Bird he's always been curious about his routine, his pregame preparation, his offseason conditioning. He asks Bird how he handled teammates who didn't perform with the same intensity he did. (Bird famously called his Celtics teammates "sissies" following a loss to the Lakers in the 1984 Finals.) "Larry said, 'You know what? That's why you, Michael and me might have been better off playing individual sports.'"

It's 2016, some 19 years after an unexpected phone call in Gold's Gym, and Kobe is days away from retirement. He no longer seeks out the game's stars; they seek him out, in the form of calls from LeBron, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. When Kobe gets those calls, he tells them all the same thing: It's one thing to ask questions, it's another thing to carry through what you learn.

Sometimes, Kobe says, he can't believe it himself -- how, as an 8-year-old in Italy, he committed the accomplishments of NBA greats to memory. And how at night he'd play Michael Jackson's Thriller over and over, reciting the lyrics as if they were his own. "And then, at 18 years old, Michael Jackson becomes my mentor," Kobe says. "And right after that, Michael Jordan tells me, 'If you need anything, just call.' I mean, seriously? It's a dream you simply cannot f--- up."

There will always be the haters -- those who argue that for as great as Kobe's career was, it should have been greater, those who contend that by communing only with his own Mount Rushmore, Kobe engaged in a form of self-sabotage. To them, he was an isolated superstar, unloved by many of his teammates, resented by Jordan acolytes, spurned by fans of Shaq.

Kobe Bryant begs to differ.

"I was never alone," he says. "I had the game."

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IT'S THAT TIME again. Every year, just ahead of the NFL draft, is the time to be told just how damned hard it is to learn to play quarterback in the NFL.

You know why it's hard, right? For starters, it's hard because NFL offensive concepts are so mind-bendingly difficult to grasp, and just when you, well-meaning but untrained, think you might understand just a little bit, here comes Coach Omniscient to remind you that the sooner you forget all that juvenile no-huddle, spread-offense garbage they taught you in college -- college, that vile word, spit at you like venom -- the better off we'll all be, because in this league there are grown men -- you, by insinuation: not grown -- coming at you trying to feed their family by knocking your head into the turf, and they're doing it at such a high rate of speed and with such force that it's like finding yourself standing in the middle of a highway, and on top of that, you've got to go through your progressions and ignore all that grown-man business taking place right under your nose and throw your receiver into his break -- not as he's breaking, college boy, and definitely not after -- while threading the ball into the slimmest of slim windows, so slim it's invisible to the untrained eye.

It's exhausting just to think about it.

Walking straight toward the bright lights, maybe squinting a bit as he adjusts to the glare, is Utah State's Jordan Love, the 21-year-old wild card of this year's draft, the evaluators' toughest test. He might be this year's Patrick Mahomes; he might never start an NFL game. He might be taken in the first 10 picks of the draft (possibly joining three other quarterbacks: Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert); he might -- as he himself suggests -- have to wait until the third round.

He arrives, like so many before him and so many to follow, with many questions:

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Does his quiet confidence fit within the proscribed metrics of NFL alpha-ness? Can his background in a small-playbook, no-huddle college offense at a faraway school in a second-tier conference translate to the ponderous demands of the NFL? Will the lack of exposure to the decision-makers in the run-up to the draft -- no pro day, just one team visit (Miami), a scramble to simply find an open field to throw on in Southern California after the COVID-19 shutdown -- work for him or against him?

"The hardest thing to evaluate is the heart and the head," says Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians, who has coached quarterbacks who could occupy an entire wing of the Hall of Fame. "I call it grit" -- always with the grit -- "and it shows whether they have leadership skills, whether guys follow them and whether they can make guys believe in them. That's the hardest part. You can see everything else."

The quarterback is the most important player on the field and probably the most important figure in American team sports. A great one can lift a team to the highest heights, and a bad one can consign it to a decade of aggravation. Teams invest a remarkable amount of capital, brainpower and sweat equity into finding, nurturing and pampering a good one. But on draft night, after all the evaluations of mental acuity and arm talent and grit, how much of the decision remains a guess?

Arians shrugs and answers quickly, as if citing a scientific study. "Thirty percent," he says. "And that's if you've really done all the work and you get lucky."

LOVE IS CURRENTLY in the process of attempting to pare down the unknowns to that magical -- and apparently definitive -- 30%. There are no physical or medical questions; at the combine, he measured 6-foot-3 6/8 (nothing as imprecise as , obviously) and 224 pounds with a best-in-class hand size of 10 4/8 (not , obviously). Those numbers occasioned the following headline: "Jordan Love is the big winner as quarterbacks weigh in and get measured," which occasioned the following quizzical response from Love: "I won the weigh-in? I guess that's for you guys to decide, but obviously, besides your weight, the rest isn't something you can control."

At the combine, he was also asked to compare himself to a present-day NFL quarterback -- a throw-anything-at-the-wall question that eventually lands in every prospect's lap -- and he said, "I get asked that a lot, and I say Patrick Mahomes, based on arm talent and what he can do." And then, as if he could see the headlines flash as soon as the thoughts became words, he smiled and said, "I'm not Patrick Mahomes -- calm down."

But he might be. That's the thing. It's not a ridiculous suggestion. And if his junior season had matched his sophomore season, he might be in the conversation with Burrow for the No. 1 pick. That sophomore year was vivid: 3,208 yards passing, a 66% completion percentage, 28 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He threw 50-yard bullets on the run, escaped trouble to extend plays, dropped touch passes into the slimmest of windows. And then, as a junior, with nine new starters and a new coaching staff that carried over the previous administration's offensive system, Love threw an FBS-high 17 interceptions.

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Some of those picks came in late-game, third-and-long situations; some came when the receiver cut the route short; some came when Love simply felt the force of his arm talent would somehow make the linebacker in the middle of the field disappear. He has had to explain every one of them, because nearly every interview at the combine included a viewing of what he has come to call, with a mixture of grim acceptance and gallows humor, the Interception Tape.

It sounds terrible, to be at the interview for the job of a lifetime and presented with a sizzle reel of your worst moments, asked What were you thinking? But Love says he welcomed it. "It gave me a chance to tell them what was going through my mind," he tells me in late March. "They're not going to put your good plays out there; they want to see the bad ones and have you talk through it." This followed his words at the combine, when he said, "I threw 17 interceptions -- obviously I'm going to have to talk about them. It's never fun, but if I don't want to have to talk about it, I don't have to throw 17 interceptions."

He could have blamed the inexperience of those nine new starters or the odd circumstance of having a coaching staff running someone else's offense. There were NFL coaches who nearly demanded it. More than one said, "You can tell us you didn't have the talent around you," but he refused.

"We never had to rehearse that answer," says Steve Calhoun, a private QB coach who runs Armed and Dangerous in Southern California and has worked with Love for eight years. "He always gives the same answer: 'No, I just needed to play better. Hey, the big eye in the sky doesn't lie. That's me out there, No. 10, and I just threw the ball to the other team.'"

(There's a chance the focus on the Interception Tape saved Love from the combine's most time-honored custom: the bizarre interview question. He was spared, he says, but a fellow quarterback prospect was standing at a whiteboard, diagramming a play, when a coach asked, "What would you do if I punched you in the face right now?")

Love is at his best on broken plays, or in the current parlance, "off-schedule plays." Improvisation is the new currency, and his highlights are filled with 50-yard darts thrown with a quick flip of the wrist, on the run, in the middle of a not-yet-grown-men mess up front. To evaluators, watching these plays is therapy; when everything falls apart, when mistakes are made, this is a guy whose talent makes bail. This skill, which Love attributes to growing up playing "backyard football," is the shiny object that supersedes any concerns about three years spent in a no-huddle, shotgun-snap offense.

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Which brings up another point: If so many of the NFL's best offenses, from Andy Reid's in Kansas City to Sean McVay's in Los Angeles to John Harbaugh's in Baltimore, operate almost solely out of the shotgun, and often without a huddle, why is getting under center still treated as such a defining skill? The actual game seems to have moved beyond the nostalgic comfort of a quarterback sticking his hands between a center's legs, so why hasn't the evaluation process evolved along with it?

"Eventually, everyone is going to have to change toward the future," Calhoun says. "How many games are played under center anymore? And yet at the combine, everything is done under center. You don't take one shotgun snap, but how many times was Patrick Mahomes under center last year?"

What do you want: Patrick Mahomes (calm down) or Alex Smith? (Poor Alex, always held up as the pinnacle of caution.) "Jordan trusts he can make every throw," says David Yost, the Utah State offensive coordinator for two years before moving to Texas Tech before last season. "He's going to put the ball in harm's way more than a guy who protects the ball but never pushes it. Jordan's not a checkdown-checkdown-checkdown guy."

Before playing Michigan State in the first game of Love's sophomore season, Yost and Love devised a game plan heavy on deep passes. "You can't overdo it," Yost told him, and Love made 16 throws on vertical routes -- "I called four or five," Yost says, "and he called the rest on his own" -- on his way to completing 29 of 44 passes for 319 yards in a seven-point loss to the 11th-ranked team in the country.

"It's funny, but at every level, we try to make football out to be a lot more than it is," Yost says. "Jordan's smart, and he has common sense. The guys who have common sense but might not be that smart are fine. I've had smart guys with no common sense -- and they couldn't play."

LOVE AND I spoke by phone on March 25, the day we both would have been in Logan for his pro day. We couldn't meet in person, obviously; he and Calhoun were having a difficult time even finding a place in Orange County to work out. High schools and colleges are closed, along with their fields. Calhoun found a public park to work out his clients in groups of three or four, but then the park closed. "It's tough, but what can you do?" Love says. He and Calhoun had the pro day all planned out: 42 throws that would answer any questions left over from the combine. They weren't throwing any 5-yard hitches either, just 42 throws that only an NFL quarterback can make.

"It was going to be great," Calhoun says. "It was a very aggressive script -- we weren't trying to be safe. All 32 teams would have been there -- GMs, head coaches -- and if they liked him before, they were really going to like him now."

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There are limitations to a telephone interview. It's difficult to describe a person without face-to-face interaction, but it feels safe to say Love has an easy, self-effacing manner. "He's so composed that from the outside one might wonder how competitive he is and how much it matters to him," says Texas Tech coach Matt Wells, who was the head coach for Love's first three years at Utah State, including his first season as a redshirt. "I can answer both of those questions: He's extremely competitive, and it matters to him more than anything else in the world."

Over the telephone, it's also tough to develop the kind of rapport needed to have a meaningful conversation about what it's like to lose a father when you're 14. Orbin Love died of a self-inflicted gunshot at home while Jordan was playing in a weekend basketball tournament. Both Orbin and Anna, Jordan's mother, were California Highway Patrol officers, and Jordan has said his father's death took away not only a father but a coach, mentor and friend.

The NFL's evaluation process can seem intrusive and not always compassionate, concerned primarily with how a prospect's habits and personality might one day reflect on the image of the team and league. The difficult conversations are often bypassed in favor of shocking questions and threats of random whiteboard violence. But teams want to know how a first-round quarterback -- let's be honest: an investment -- is going to react to adversity on the field, and it's accepted that how he reacts to adversity off it is as good a measurement as any.

"Teams asked me, 'What adversity have you had to face outside football?'" Love says. "I end up talking about my dad a lot because of that, but it's not something I use for sympathy. I'm not looking for any pity whatsoever. I'm just letting them know that I've gone through some things and I've been able to get through it with the help of a lot of people."

They asked Calhoun, "What do you think bothers him?"

"Nothing in the NFL is going to bring him down," Calhoun answers. "If he throws three picks and loses? That's nothing. He's had to handle some unbelievable adversity, and he's been able to come out the other side. What I believe is, nothing in the NFL can compare with what he's experienced in life."

How did he get here? The mystery isn't that his talent was missed by so many but that it was seen by anybody at all. "He didn't arrive the traditional way," Yost says. "The traditional way is that we know about these guys from the time they're freshmen in high school, we tell them they're great and it's never their fault. Jordan wasn't on that path."

Before his senior year at Liberty High in Bakersfield, California, Love went to a Utah State summer team camp as a jangly 180-pound kid who loved basketball and didn't have a single Division I football offer. In shorts, a T-shirt and a helmet, he resembled a lollipop. "The more we saw him, the more we liked him," Wells says. "During the workout, we did everything you could do to put pressure on the kid, and he made every throw. We liked his arm strength, we liked his character, we liked his swag. I thought he was cool."

Love laughs when this is repeated to him; he'd never heard it before. "He said that about me?" he asks. "My swag? That's funny that he would say that. I didn't know I had any back then."

ASK A COACH, guru, evaluator, fetishist -- any member of the gigantic quarterback-industrial complex -- to opine on any aspect of the position and stand back; this stuff is ingrained in them like knots in wood. "I could give you a thousand things over 10 hours," Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said at the combine in February, "and bore you to death with it."

It is a requirement for an NFL quarterback, Mayock says, to stand in that huddle and use his words and the power of his personality to convey not only the play but the enormity of the moment, because what Jon Gruden is asking him to understand is "mind-boggling," and as they evaluate the best prospects in this year's quarterback class -- Love has been linked to the Mayock/Gruden Raiders at No. 12 if he gets past the Chargers at No. 6 -- they're "talking about a guy who can handle Jon Gruden's offense, can spit it out, has the intellectual capacity -- the gigawatts -- to get all that, and to translate it on Sunday."

And that's just scratching the thinnest slice of the outer edge of the surface. Because there's more. There's always more.

There's the verbiage -- always with the verbiage -- that few men on earth can understand, and even fewer can enact, and it booms through the helmet in a multisyllabic purge of X's and Y's and Z's as the play clock is ticking and the crowd is screaming and those grown men are digging in like enraged sprinters, and through all of this you must look into the eyes of your 10 brothers in the huddle and convey the calm and fortitude of the alpha male -- always with the alpha male -- in a way that makes all that complicated verbiage dissolve into a unifying message of touchdowns and victories that osmotically forges a bond between each man privileged enough to experience it.

In the end, after hands are measured and interceptions are dissected and arm strength is assessed, the NFL is evaluating quarterbacks on the basis of an unscientific and nonuniform personality test. (Assuming not every team suggests punching out the guy at the whiteboard.) The idea is to assemble enough information -- numerical and anecdotal -- to create a prediction in which they feel 70% confident.

At the risk of being presumptuous, the trail should take them to the fall of 2018, to a game that has evaporated into the haze of seasons and games. Things weren't looking good for the Aggies, and Yost -- sitting helplessly up in a booth -- got on the headset with Love and told him, "Go tell the whole group we're going to score. They need to hear it from someone other than a coach."

Yost tracked Love's movements, but he couldn't tell whether he followed the order. He could have done it in the huddle and Yost wouldn't have known, but it didn't look like it from the booth. The Aggies went down and scored, which was the whole point, but Yost still needed to know.

He asked an offensive lineman, "Did Jordan say anything to the group?"

"No," the lineman said. "He went around and talked to each guy individually."

OK, Yost thought. That works.

"You don't want guys running around screaming and yelling because they feel they should do it," Yost says. "You can be that alpha -- and still be yourself."

Slowly, the questions get answered, and the percentage of uncertainty whittles its way toward its magical number. When the Serious Football People conclude a treatise on the demands of the job and the road ahead for those who choose to take it, there's always a knowing pause. It's a silent punchline that hangs there, sending a clear message: So good luck to you, kid. Love knows what's out there: grown men, ready to introduce his head to the turf; a playbook demanding consumption and digestion; verbiage awaiting verbalization.

"NFL people know you're not the best quarterback walking around right now," he says. "There's a ton of work ahead -- a ton of work."

He stops himself. That sounds modest, the right thing to say, but it also feels like a subconscious surrender to the forces of the industry. It's complicated, sure, but not impossible.

"It can be done," he says. "Word for word, and step by step."

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Jordan Love's NFL draft prospects illustrate the mystery of drafting a quarterback - ESPN

Former World Number one Serena Williams defeated her elder sister Venus in the Australian Open 2017 finals and progressed to lift her 23rd Grand Slam title and winners check of $2.8 million.

In the midst of all the celebrations of creating history by surpassing Steffi Grafs all-time major record, Serena received a gift as an icing on the cake. The precious gift was a pair of pink Air Jordans from her legendary compatriot Michael Jordan. The runners had number 23 etched on them, representing Serenas Slam-tally.

Also, the gift was accompanied by a heartfelt letter to Williams. Winning is hard, it takes years of hard work, mental toughness and a willingness to accept the fact that you hate to lose, she read aloud. Congratulations with much respect on winning number 23. It will be a privilege to keep watching your determination on the court. Your friend, Michael Jordan.

After her 6-4, 6-4 win over Venus, an elated Serena was also seen wearing a different pair of Air Jordans. She was also carrying her Australian Open title in her hand.

While lifting that Slam, Williams was eight-weeks pregnant wither daughter Alexis Olympia, but she did not reveal the news back then. Its such a great feeling to have 23. It really feels great. Yeah, Ive been chasing it for a really long time. It feels like, really long time. When it got on my radar, I knew I had an opportunity to get there, and Im here. Im here. Its a great feeling. No better place to do it than Melbourne, she said.

Earlier the American Serena topped the mark of Chrissie Evert and Martina Navratilova and post her win in Melbourne, she surpassed the Slam count of Steffi Graff.

But after that historic victory, the questions of Williams equalling Margaret Courts all-time record of 24 Slams were raised. Ever since Serena has featured in four Slam finals, and every time she falls short by sets and her 24th major reverie is yet to be fulfilled.

Continued here:

WATCH When Serena Williams Received a Gift From Micheal Jordan at Australian Open - Essentially Sports

While the Tokyo Olympics one year-postponement surely derailed some of its plans and activations, Jordan Brand is still celebrating the event this year. And in big fashion, as the Jumpman imprint is scheduled to retro the Japan-exclusive Air Jordan 1 Midnight Navy from 2001 this holiday season.

Originally launched shortly after the turn-of-the-century, the upcoming Jordan 1 is much more significant than its simple colorway which inspired Eric Kostons Jordan 1 Low SB suggests. The pair and its three Japan Pack co-stars marked several firsts for the Air Jordan line. Perhaps most important, the release served as the first time the at the time 16-year-old company brought Michael Jordans first signature shoe in non-original colorways to the market. Furthermore, the four-pack ditched the standard shoebox in favor of pre-Jordan 17 briefcase-like packaging. Tying this Midnight Navy iteration to The Land Of The Rising Sun, the limited Japan Pack pioneered country-exclusive Jordan 1 releases, as there were none prior to 2001. And while Jordan Brand may tweak some of its branding, materials and quantities, this years retro will unquestionably be a history lesson for many and a notable nod to the next Summer Olympics host country.

No release date is yet known, but this historically-important Jordan 1 (and the rest of the Japan Pack) is rumored to arrive to Nike.com Holiday 2020. Until then, enjoy a closer look at a an original pair from 2001 here below.

For more from under the Jordan Brand umbrella, check out the Jordan 5 Off White rumored to drop this Fall.

Air Jordan 1 High OG Japan Pack $170Color: White/Metallic Silver/Midnight NavyStyle Code: DC1788-100

Make sure to follow @kicksfinder for live tweets during the release date.

Where to Buy

Images: DunksRNice

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The Air Jordan 1 Midnight Navy, The 2001 Japan Exclusive, Is Returning Later This Year - Sneaker News

AMMAN Nine new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Jordan, bringing the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 381, Minister of Health Saad Jaber announced on Saturday.

During a press briefing the minister recorded from his home in compliance with the comprehensive curfew, he said that the new cases include seven members of the family of a man who was confirmed to have the virus four days ago, while the eighth case is a coworker of the same man.

The ninth case was detected in the isolated Marqab area, Jaber said, adding that the area is under oversight, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The minister also announced that seven patients recovered and were discharged, three of them from Prince Hamzah Hospital, three from King Abdullah University Hospital and one from the Royal Medical Services (RMS).

The number of cases currently under treatment includes 133 cases at Prince Hamzah Hospital, 39 cases at King Abdullah University Hospital and 19 cases at the RMS.

On Friday, the Kingdom reported no new COVID-19 cases.

During a press briefing on Friday also recorded from home, Jaber said that no new coronavirus cases were registered, pointing out that more than 1,500 tests were conducted across the Kingdom.

Jaaber reiterated that zero cases does not mean that the pandemic has ended, but shows that good adherence and increasing commitment will speed up the resumption of our normal life.

The minister also announced on Friday that nine patients recovered from the virus, including six patients at Prince Hamzah Hospital and three at King Abdullah University Hospital.

The minister stressed that the fluctuation in case numbers is no cause for concern, as five days after each case is detected, other cases are expected to appear among their contacts, especially their families.

The fluctuation rather indicates the strength of the epidemiological inspection teams and security entities in following up on the cases and their contacts, he said.

Jaber called on citizens to be extra careful on Sunday as markets reopen and to practise social distancing.

Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said on Saturday that the government has not yet taken an official decision to extend the suspension of schools, universities and work at government institutions, which ends next Tuesday evening.

However, he alluded that the government does intend to continue the suspension during the coming period.

Speaking during a press briefing recorded from home, Adaileh said that the decision may be taken on Sunday or Monday, with the allowance of some productive and service establishments to gradually begin work, in accordance with strict public safety measures, Petra reported.

The minister stressed that, despite the governments commitment to observing the comprehensive curfew, it is still constantly following up on citizens' questions and observations, as well as monitoring the implementation of procedures and decisions previously taken and studying actions that can be taken later in light of developments.

Regarding Jordanian workers and professionals who have been affected by the suspension of their work, Adaileh announced that the government is currently working to accelerate the development of a mechanism to assist them through the Social Protection Team, adding that the details will be announced soon.

As His Majesty King Abdullah affirmed in his speech on Friday, the true mettle of Jordanians appears in the face of hardship, the minister said, adding: Now we are seeing that in action, as we pass the second day of the comprehensive curfew calmly and smoothly, with a limited number of violations.

He thanked the vast majority of citizens for their commitment and cooperation, stressing that the government will not compromise during the coming stage, even if the number of cases falls.

Adaileh added that the government will be announcing further decisions in the upcoming days.

Originally posted here:

Jordan witnesses 9 new COVID-19 cases, 16 recoveries over weekend - Jordan Times

For Jordan, 2020 marks the revival of quite a few noteworthy icons be it the Air Jordan 5 Fire Red or the long-awaited DMP Air Jordan 6. But in terms of the brand new, the Air Jordan 12 has unfortunately been excluded, sitting behind tie dye Air Jordan 1s and a clean duo of Air Jordan 11 Lows. And though its latest was left out of the brands Summer 2020 preview, the 12 will actually be making its first debut of the year in July, marking bright with accents of University Gold. Its color blocking, much like that of its predecessors, arrives simple with only two tones; aside from the aforementioned, the upper runs replete with black shades, tinting down its pebbled leathers as well as its adjacent details eye stay hardware, laces, and lining, for example. Forward, the toe cap embellishes with smooth panels whose neighboring overlays, midsole pieces, and toolings match with the same titular yellow. Revealed via @zsneakerheadz, the pair can be seen close-up just below. Be sure to sit tight for its release at Nike.com and select shops later in July 18th.

In other news, the Japanese exclusive Midnight Navy Air Jordan 1 is releasing again.

Air Jordan 12 University GoldRelease Date: July 18th, 2020$190Color: Black/Black-University GoldStyle Code: 130690-070

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First Look At The Air Jordan 12 Retro In Black And University Gold - Sneaker News

Justin Timberlake'srelationship with Jordan Brand can be dated all the way back to 2013 when the brand created a collection of exclusiveAir Jordan styles forhis "Legends of Summer" tour with Jay-Z, but it sounds like there was a chance that hecould've gotten his very own Jordanmodel.

As the latest guest on Complex's hit series Hot Ones, he revealed that he was in discussion with the brand and designer Tinker Hatfield about reworkingtwo or three silhouettes as well as possibly creating his own sneaker. Additional details regarding thediscussionwere not disclosed, so it's uncertain if the talks are ongoing.

"There was a moment where Tinker [Hatfield]and the brandwere going to make a new shoe for mefor a tour," Timberlake recalled."Our first meeting, Tinker was kind of sitting there and we're talking about inspiration, where we're headed, who are your idols, and he came back six months later and that's when we started talking about an actual sneaker.There are probably two or three other ones that we've talked about reworking or sort of innovating."

Jordan Brand did introduce the Air Jordan 3"Tinker" in 2018, although the design wasn't specifically linked to Timberlakebut was insteadinspired by anoriginal sketch of the popular model. Timberlake got his own version of theJordan 3 Tinker dubbed "JTH," which hedebuted at the NFL Super Bowl LII halftime show and new colorways were availablethroughouthis "Man of the Woods" tour.

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Did Justin Timberlake Almost Have His Own Jordan Sneaker? - Sole Collector

WEST JORDAN, Utah The City of West Jordan is asking government employees to consider giving up their job due to economic challenges.

West Jordan is facing an $8 million budget shortfall because of the novel coronavirus.

"Unfortunately, we are facing a budget that requires a major restructuring and will need to include a reduction of personnel," wrote Chief Administrative Officer Korban Lee in a letter to employees. "We want to proceed with such an action in the most compassionate way possible."

The city was already dealing with budget challenges prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem has gotten worse due to the city's reliance on sales tax revenue.

"Theres always concerns with the city budget -- particularly in our city which has a very large growing population -- but not to the extent that were seeing now," said Tauni Barker, the director of community engagement for West Jordan. "Our sales tax has taken a real hit."

Barker said the city expects approximately 12-24 employees will volunteer to be laid off in exchange for a three-month severance package and health benefits or an equal COBRA health insurance bundle.

"Its already hard enough to get a job in this time right now, so to take a severance would be alright but it wouldnt be consistent money," said Dustin Pea, a consumer who shops for his grandmother in West Jordan. "They're lining up to get jobs if they can, not the opposite!"

It's unclear whether the voluntary layoffs will be enough to protect workers who want to stay employed.

"It really depends on the employees position, their current salary," Barker said. "The positive side of human nature is the employees that have stepped up and said, 'You know, I wasnt planning to retire for another 6 months or a year, but if this will save the job of one of my coworkers, my friends, my family, Im going to take the voluntary cut now,' which really indicates how close our employees are to one another."

The city would like employees to notify them of their intentions by Monday, April 13 in preparation for May budget discussions.

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West Jordan faces $8 million budget shortfall; City employees offered severance to voluntarily resign - fox13now.com

The single most shocking splash this NFL offseason has been Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only did Brady latch onto Tampa Bay, but he did so courtesy of a two-year, $50 million deal. That ends the forgettable five-year Jameis Winston era that produced just a single winning season.

Brady joins a Tampa Bay offense that has some pieces, namely at wide receiver with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. This is arguably the best receiver group Brady has had since Randy Moss was on the Patriots in 2007. Tampa also has a good interior offensive line and a decent enough run game.

Still, with Brady being so statuesque in the pocket, the Buccaneers could get better at the offensive tackle position. On defense, the Buccaneers have a high-level front seven. The secondary, though, could use some players.

Lets kick it over to Gil Arcia of Bucs Nation for his pick in the 2020 SB Nation NFL writers mock draft:

Arcia: The Buccaneers solidified their quarterback position with the acquisition of veteran Tom Brady during the start of free agency. But while Brady may be the short-term answer, hes not going to be around for the long term. Tampa Bay would be wise to draft Bradys successor. Love can be that guy.

The Utah State product has tremendous upside. He has the ability to make all the throws and despite coaching staff changes and less than stellar talent around him, Love still performed well in college. Head coach Bruce Arians isnt expected to be around coaching much longer but he can help prepare Love for the future while also learning behind a guy like Brady.

Analysis: This is the most surprising pick of this mock draft thus far, and it will be hard to top. The reasoning, I assume, is this: Brady is old and Love needs refinement. Still, if you have a quarterback who will be 43 at the start of next season (assuming there is one), its hard to feel good about taking a pure backup player with the 14th pick in the draft. Its also hard to see 67-year-old head coach Bruce Arians being fine with it too.

The Buccaneers may be scarred by Florida cornerbacks after taking Vernon Hargreaves in the first round in 2016, but fellow Gator CJ Henderson would bolster the secondary. We may have also seen four offensive tackles taken already, but giving Brady time is paramount. It would be a reach to take Boise States Ezra Cleveland or USCs Austin Jackson here, but it would make more sense than Love.

The final pick of the day will post at 1 p.m. ET with the Denver Broncos making a pick thanks to Scotty Payne of Mile High Report. Can you guess who it might be?

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2020 NFL mock draft: Can Jordan Love be Tom Bradys backup for the Bucs? - SB Nation

Its no secret the Seattle Seahawks need help rushing the passer. The hope throughout the offseason has been to reunite with Jadeveon Clowney and to potentially add another big name piece as well, like Everson Griffen, Yannick Ngakoue or Matthew Judon.

So far none of that has come to fruition, with the Seahawks biding their time while shoring up their depth in the form of a pair of old friends: Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa, two veteran pass rushers who played with the team during the Legion of Boom era.

While the Seahawks certainly need to add at least one big name rusher, ideally Clowney, they could continue to add depth pieces to bring into training camp, hoping the collective unit will help form a solid pass rush in 2020.

Another name the team could consider, since they are on the reunion track, is Dion Jordan.

Jordan spent the 2019 season with the Raiders, appearing in seven games and racking up two sacks. He was with the Seahawks in 2017 and 2018, and while injuries limited him to just 17 total games, he did accrue 5.5 sacks, 11 quarterback hits and two forced fumbles.

Jordan has had plenty of red flags in his career, namely injury and disciplinary related, but the former third overall pick has proven capable of getting to the quarterback when hes healthy, and hes familiar with coach Pete Carrolls defensive scheme and what his role would be.

Read more here:

Should the Seahawks pursue a reunion with DE Dion Jordan? - Seahawks Wire

LARGO, Md. (CNN) As the coronavirus pandemic intensified, Leilani Jordan insisted on going to her job as a clerk at a Maryland grocery so she could help seniors, her mother said.

She had challenges of her own, as a worker with cerebral palsy. But as shoppers around the country raided shelves for necessities in early to mid-March, Jordan wanted to make sure the elderly got theirs.

Its just crazy here at work but somebodys got to do it, Jordan said, according to her mother, Zenobia Shepherd. Ive got to help the older people.

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She was doing everything for them: Helping them put their groceries in their walkers, to helping them get into lifts, Shepherd said.

Then the 27-year-old became sick.

The clerk for a Giant Food store in Largo, a few miles east of Washington, was hospitalized with coronavirus in March and died last week, her family said.

It was my baby! Shepherd, crying, told CNNs New Day Wednesday. All she wanted to do was just help people.

It isnt clear how Jordan got Covid-19. But she was working in a type of essential business where people still must gather at in a time when health officials would rather people stay apart and her family feels she wasnt properly protected.

She (told me), Mom, there is no masks here, there is no gloves, there is no hand sanitizer, Shepherd said.

Jordan last worked at the store on March 16, the company said. Giant Food has said it was saddened to confirm Jordan died of coronavirus.

We can only imagine the heartache they (her family) are experiencing and have offered our support during this difficult time, the company said.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

About the familys accusations about protection, the company said: At the time of Jordans last day of work, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention wasnt recommending masks, so the company didnt provide them.

Since then, the CDC has updated its recommendations, and the company now is supplying its workers with plastic face shields, which they can wear if they choose.

Giant stores have always had hand sanitizer and/or cleaning products available for workers, the company said, adding the company has no record of a request or complaint from Jordan.

The company mandates only that its food service workers wear gloves, but other workers always have been allowed to wear them, and can if interested, it said.

In the moments before Jordan died, she was intubated, unable to talk.

But, unbeknownst to her family, shed already recorded her goodbyes.

Her stepfather, Charles, was at home after she died, going through some of her things.

She (had taken) her password off of her phone, so it wasnt locked, he told CNNs Alisyn Camerota.

He found a video with a heart-wrenching message.

She made a video saying goodbye to all us, and wished everybody the best, he said.

She told us bye; her sisters, (and her service dog) Angel, bye; and all her friends.

She told them, you know, See you on the other side.'

The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Coronavirus Cases: 27-Year-Old Maryland Grocery Clerk Leilani Jordan With Cerebral Palsy Dies Of COVID-19 - CBS Baltimore