Kobe Bryant is remembered as one of the greatest competitors in the history of the NBA. He had a will and a want to win that we’ve seen from few others. But his intensity sometimes boiled over and would backfire on his own team. As Mitch Richmond recently described, the two-time MVP would routinely argue with Phil Jackson behind closed doors.
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Kobe took the game very seriously when he played. So seriously that he would get into fights and arguments about strategies and game plans with the coaching staff. He really wanted to win, and anything less than a championship-level approach to each game would set him off to hold others accountable.
One time, Kobe said in an interview that he didn’t originally trust Phil Jackson when he first became coach of the LA Lakers. He had a unique approach to coaching that he was unfamiliar with, and didn’t like how relaxed he was about certain things. But in time, the two found middle ground to stand on and helped each other.
“The first time around, I really didn’t [trust]. The second time around, he and I can have conversations and it would just stay between us. We talked about a great deal of things, and because of that, I learned so much more,” Bryant once told ESPN. “He affected me. He impacted my basketball game and how I think about the game and me as a person.”
It must have been easy for Kobe to find trust in Jackson after the two immediately won a title together in 1999. From then on, they’re relationship flourished as the two continued to succeed.
However, that didn’t mean that there wasn’t still time for a spat from time to time. Former Laker Mitch Richmond recently revealed that Kobe and Jackson would routinely get into verbal fights.
“He was serious about the game. He was serious in film session. You know, he was always cussing Phil [Jackson] out all the time,” Richmond said on Byron Scott’s Fast Break.
It goes to show how intense Kobe was behind closed doors. Some of his former teammates have talked about how they thought he was a sociopath and that they feared being around his emotionless personality. But he was just that serious about basketball. He had an endless work ethic and would spend tons of time in the gym perfecting his craft. Additionally, Kobe would watch film intently and hold others accountable while doing so.
In the end, though, it all panned out for the pairing. They won 5 NBA championships together. Eventually, Kobe learned to fully trust Jackson, too.
“I looked at him and just like, ‘This is one smart dude.’ So, I pulled it back,” Kobe remembered in an interview with Lewis Howes.
It’s a great story about two opposite personalities coming together. Jackson was always a laid-back coach who had a “zen master” approach. He studied Zen Buddhism and Native American spirituality and used them to formulate tactical game plans. Kobe, on the other hand, was intense and wired, almost like a robot. He continually studied the past greats of the game and used their moves to make himself better; he had no off switch.
When all was said and done, Kobe and Jackson became great colleagues and friends. They also got to be a part of one of the most dominant dynasties in the history of the NBA. It may have included some harsh back-and-forths at times, but it was all worth it.
