"It pissed me off. But, things are what they are. You push for a goal, and my original goal was to try to win 8. You push for it. Push for it. Push for it, and you do the best you can," Kobe says.

"But at the end of the day you can be comfortable with the results and where they landed and where they ended up. And so that's the most important thing."

"That's why I can be really really comfortable with the career that I've had. Cause I worked as hard as I possibly could."

Let's be real ... 5 titles is crazy impressive. In fact, only 13 men -- including legendary hoopers like Bill Russell and John Havlicek -- have won more than 5 rings.

There's more Mamba-MJ talk ... Kobe also tells the story of the time he and Jordan debated who'd win in a dream matchup -- Michael's 1991 Bulls vs. Bryant's 2003 Lakers.

QUESTION: is he right to be pissed?