After Michael Jordan's first retirement in 1993, a new crop of young NBA players emerged as the stars of their era. Some of them were young guns shooting for the title of Next Jordan. Tyra Banks was an unlikely benefactor of the off court endeavors of players like Kobe Bryant and Penny Hardaway.
The Lil Penny series of Nike commercials featured Tyra Banks as the ideal woman for Penny Hardaway's Mini-Me. Michael Jordan made the movie Space Jam with Bugs & Lola Bunny. Penny's spots featured Lil Penny and Tyra. Advantage Hardaway.
By the time Penny faded from contention for the Next Top MJ, Kobe Bryant became the apparent heir to Air Jordan in the NBA. Kobe took R&B singer Brandy to his prom, yet he collaborated with Tyra Banks on his rap single "K.O.B.E.".
MJ never rhymed like Kobe, but he did appear in a music video with Michael Jackson for "Jam". While Tyra can't sing like Mike, her plastic surgeon has done a MUCH better job. Even so, advantage to the MJs by a nose.
Actually, Tyra's breasts are all natural. 100% real. She'll prove it with the jiggle. Check it out.
Back to basketball. Tyra took it beyond NBA commercials & Kobe songs when she hooked up with power forward Chris Webber while he was dominant with the Kings. C Webb didn't feature her in any of his songs on his "Too Much Drama" album. Probably a mistake. Look at his career compared to Kobe's. Advantage KB24.
Back to Tyra. Not only is she open about sharing the realness of her breasts, she also enjoys outing natural chests on other women. Watch her assist American Idol star Katharine McPhee in exposing the truth on her breasts.
Tyra Banks is an example of when keeping it real goes right. She was last year's top moneymaking female on prime time TV at $30 million according to
Forbes.com. She hosts and is the executive producer for
America's Top Model which is The CW Network's top rated show.
Tyra was the first African American woman to be featured on the cover of GQ & Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She's also the first African American to be the covergirl for the Victoria's Secret catalog.
Watch her show off Victoria Secret's $10 million "Heavenly '70' Fantasy Bra".
TV is where Tyra takes over and there's no question that her spots with Lil Penny elevated her in the eyes of sports fans. Penny Hardaway's career might have been cut short by injury, depriving us of more plays like the ones in this top 10 clip.
Yet Penny and Lil Penny stayed around long enough to spread Tyra Banks beyond fashion show runways and into the basketball community during NBA commercial breaks in the mid '90s. Kobe did his part by picking Tyra to sing with him instead of calling his prom date Brandy. Factor in Tyra's relationship with Chris Webber and it's clear that basketball loves Tyra and Tyra loves basketball.
She is the hands down winner of Queen of the Post Jordan NBA.
