After winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls, head coach Phil Jackson moved to Los Angeles, where he led the Lakers also to a three-peat run. However, this was no easy task for the accomplished coach. Coming with the experience of dealing with the egos of superstar players such as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Jackson now had to tame the massive egos of two emerging superstars, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, who were the frontrunners of the Lakers’ three-peat campaign.
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During this period, Kobe and Shaq had already started to grow differences due to their ego conflict regarding their roster roles. Bryant wanted to create his own identity with his talents and skills, while veteran Shaq aspired to be the leader of the young, championship-winning squad. This growing conflict often led head coach Jackson to criticize his players, especially Kobe Bryant, in front of the media.
Reflecting on Phil Jackson’s remarks in front of the media, Kobe Bryant revealed in 2015 why his coach attacked him publicly. In an interview with GQ, Bryant revealed that a part of Phil Jackson was trying to tame the ambitious and wild spirit in Kobe that wanted to prove himself as a player. Speaking about Jackson, Bryant said,
“He’s also very intelligent, and he understood the dynamic he had to deal with between me and Shaq. So he would take shots at me in the press, and I understood he was doing that in order to ingratiate himself to Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal]. And since I knew what he was doing, I felt like that was an insult to my intelligence.”
Kobe Bryant admitted that he would personally confide and confess any grievances or difficulties he would face with the team. However, when Bryant realized Jackson was using his confidence to spread negativity to the media, the Mamba had enough. Jackson’s remarks, in a way, also fueled the tensions between Shaq and Kobe at that time. This was perhaps the start of the deteriorating relationship between the two, wherein Kobe had even stopped interacting with the head coach at one point.
Either way, Phil Jackson’s scathing remarks led Bryant to improve at a maniacal pace. Kobe became way more efficient on the court, with or without Jackson coaching the team. Phil Jackson was soon out of the Lakers as the head coach, which makes us believe how the front office chose to rather bank on Bryant’s umpteen potential over an accomplished but divisive head coach.
Kobe Bryant’s fallout with Phil Jackson led to the exit of Jackson
Kobe Bryant’s ultimate fallout with coach Phil Jackson led to the Zen Master parting ways with the Lakers franchise. Of course, we all know Kobe to be one of the most hardworking athletes and a motivated student of the game. However, hearing remarks such as being ‘un-coachable’ from accomplished coach Phil Jackson might certainly be a surprise.
Kobe Bryant had enough belief in himself to lead his team without paying much heed to his coach’s instructions. However, that was something not acceptable to Jackson, who found it extremely difficult to manage the inflating egos of the superstar players in his squad. As revealed in the book Three Ring Circus, Jackson went to the office of general manager Mitch Kupchak and declared he wouldn’t coach the team if Kobe remained.
After a brief period of absence in 2004, Jackson returned in 2005 to lead the Lakers to two more championships in 2009 and 2010. Though Kobe might have had his differences with coach Jackson, the 5x NBA champion had some kind words to spare for the Zen Master in his book, The Mamba Mentality.
“Kobe wrote in a highly endearing manner, “Phil was about the scale. He taught concepts within basketball, but more so the macro concept of basketball. He was able to teach – without lecturing – the importance of being a team and how to get from Point A to Point B to Point Championship.”
Perhaps, without coach Jackson, Kobe Bryant would not have reached the heights of his career and talent. Coach Phil Jackson won championships with legends such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, which speaks volumes of his prowess in coaching players to become game legends and greats.
