Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson‘s relationship was marked by tension and conflict during their time with the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite winning championships together, they clashed over various issues. Including, Kobe’s s**ual assault case that left him infuriated. In fact, Phil openly favored Shaquille O’Neal and even expected Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss to trade the Black Mamba at one point.
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However, as was revealed in his book Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, things didn’t go as Jackson expected. Buss did meet with Bryant but did not fire him. Rather, he shared plans for the future of Kobe and the Lakers, a franchise worth $6.4 billion. A future that initially did not include the then nine-time championship-winning coach.
Kobe Bryant once revealed classified information to a teammate that had grave implications for Phil Jackson’s future
Back in 2004, there was much tension surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers. They were coming off a huge loss to the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, and there were questions being asked about the team’s future.
In particular, many wondered about the stability of the partnership between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. The two were pretty much at each other’s throats. And now, the Lakers needed to decide who they would pick going forward.
For Phil Jackson, that was easy. He preferred Shaq and would have loved to keep him on the roster. In fact, he was of the opinion that then-Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss would get rid of Kobe. However, one meeting between Buss and Bryant completely changed that narrative. Why? Because as the Black Mamba hinted to his teammate Derek Fisher, someone would be leaving the team, and that someone was Phil.
“A few days later Dr. Buss, who worried that his young star might jump to another team, visited Kobe in Newport Beach and tried to persuade him to remain with the Lakers. Obviously, I wasn’t party to the meeting, but shortly thereafter, while we were riding on the team bus, Kobe told Derek Fisher, “Your man’s not coming back next year.” The “man” he was talking about was me. I felt completely blindsided. Clearly, Dr. Buss had shared information with Kobe about the team and my future before consulting me. It was a harsh blow, and Kobe seemed to be reveling in it. Deep down, this turn of events made me question whether I could trust Kobe or Dr. Buss.”
It certainly was a messy situation. But, one that many believe Phil only had himself to blame. After all, he has been accused of manipulating Kobe and Shaq into feuding.
Phil Jackson was accused of instigating the feud between Kobe and Shaq
The beef between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal is well-documented. The two did not like each other and were wrestling for control over the Lakers. However, there are those who believe that it was neither of them who instigated the feud. In fact, some of Kobe and Shaq’s former teammates believe Phil Jackson is to blame.
Robert Horry, who played for the Lakers from 1997 to 2003 even accused Jackson of egging the two on, simply because he liked having conflict with the team.
“I think Phil Jackson started that feud. It happened many times that after team practice he would say, “Kobe said this about Shaq, and Shaq said that about Kobe.” We couldn’t believe how could that happen, because just the day before we saw them together, jumping on one another. Phil liked it when there was conflict of some sort.”
That would have definitely added a lot of spice to the hotpot. But, they eventually grew past all their pettiness for each other. Phil even went on to coach Kobe to two more championships, putting aside any hate they had for each other.
