Originally published by LakersNation.com
Phil Jackson is considered by many to be the greatest coach in NBA history after winning 11 championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. Perhaps Jackson’s best trait as a coach was his ability to manage the personalities of his stars, be it Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with the Bulls, or Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal with the Lakers.
It certainly wasn’t easy and Jackson’s handling of a young Bryant actually didn’t sit well with the rest of the Lakers. Former Lakers guard Brian Shaw told a story of he and the team asking Jackson why he didn’t chastise Bryant the way he did everyone else, including O’Neal, and the coach revealed his reasoning.
“Because everybody was mad because early on Kobe wouldn’t pass the ball,” Shaw said during his appearance on Podcast P with Paul George. “So Phil had no problem cussing Shaq out or getting on Shaq’s ass, but he would never say anything to Kobe early on.
“So I have German Shepherds and they are protection trained. And my dog trainer always said to me, ‘the first six to eight months that you have his puppy don’t ever tell it no. Because what we want to do is we want this dog to be so confident that he feels like he could do everything. The discipline part can come later on, once his confidence is at a certain point. So he gonna chew up [stuff] in your house, in your yard or whatever. You just got to deal with it let your dog do what it wants so he feels like he’s the dude, he’s the man.’
“So when we had the team meeting and I remember asking Phil, ‘how come you always say everything to Shaq, you don’t say nothing to Kobe?’ And he said, ‘because for this team we always need Kobe to be in attack mode.’ And then that immediately made me think about what my dog trainer said about my German Shepherds. And so it was exactly what our team needed.”
“Shaq came from a disciplinary, his stepfather was military. Yes sir, no sir. And whatever you asked him to do, told him to do, he was obedient. Kobe was that German Shepherd puppy that nobody ever said no to. He had sisters, he was the only boy, father played in the NBA and he was The Golden Child. And Phil nurtured that confidence in him at the detriment, nah I wouldn’t say detriment, but at the expense of the rest of us on the team getting the brunt of him yelling and screaming and what have you, but not saying a whole lot to Kobe. And we needed that and he was always in attack mode.”
Jackson understood how important Bryant was to the success of the Lakers and that the team couldn’t afford for him to question himself or lose any aggression. In later years that would change and Jackson was able to be harder on Bryant, but in those early years of development he did not want Bryant’s confidence to be shaken and he was right.
So much focus for how good a coach is can be on Xs and Os and things of that nature, but none of that matters if that coach doesn’t have the respect of the players and control of the locker room. Jackson was a master at getting his players to buy in and that is why he was so successful in his career.
Bulls center Jalen Smith has fans within Lakers organization
The current Lakers are still rounding out their roster and the front office is eyeing some depth at the center position with Bulls big man Jalen Smith reportedly having fans within the organization.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
Phil Jackson is considered by many to be the greatest coach in NBA history after winning 11 championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. Perhaps Jackson’s best trait as a coach was his ability to manage the personalities of his stars, be it Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with the Bulls, or Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal with the Lakers.
It certainly wasn’t easy and Jackson’s handling of a young Bryant actually didn’t sit well with the rest of the Lakers. Former Lakers guard Brian Shaw told a story of he and the team asking Jackson why he didn’t chastise Bryant the way he did everyone else, including O’Neal, and the coach revealed his reasoning.
“Because everybody was mad because early on Kobe wouldn’t pass the ball,” Shaw said during his appearance on Podcast P with Paul George. “So Phil had no problem cussing Shaq out or getting on Shaq’s ass, but he would never say anything to Kobe early on.
“So I have German Shepherds and they are protection trained. And my dog trainer always said to me, ‘the first six to eight months that you have his puppy don’t ever tell it no. Because what we want to do is we want this dog to be so confident that he feels like he could do everything. The discipline part can come later on, once his confidence is at a certain point. So he gonna chew up [stuff] in your house, in your yard or whatever. You just got to deal with it let your dog do what it wants so he feels like he’s the dude, he’s the man.’
“So when we had the team meeting and I remember asking Phil, ‘how come you always say everything to Shaq, you don’t say nothing to Kobe?’ And he said, ‘because for this team we always need Kobe to be in attack mode.’ And then that immediately made me think about what my dog trainer said about my German Shepherds. And so it was exactly what our team needed.”
“Shaq came from a disciplinary, his stepfather was military. Yes sir, no sir. And whatever you asked him to do, told him to do, he was obedient. Kobe was that German Shepherd puppy that nobody ever said no to. He had sisters, he was the only boy, father played in the NBA and he was The Golden Child. And Phil nurtured that confidence in him at the detriment, nah I wouldn’t say detriment, but at the expense of the rest of us on the team getting the brunt of him yelling and screaming and what have you, but not saying a whole lot to Kobe. And we needed that and he was always in attack mode.”
Jackson understood how important Bryant was to the success of the Lakers and that the team couldn’t afford for him to question himself or lose any aggression. In later years that would change and Jackson was able to be harder on Bryant, but in those early years of development he did not want Bryant’s confidence to be shaken and he was right.
So much focus for how good a coach is can be on Xs and Os and things of that nature, but none of that matters if that coach doesn’t have the respect of the players and control of the locker room. Jackson was a master at getting his players to buy in and that is why he was so successful in his career.
Bulls center Jalen Smith has fans within Lakers organization
The current Lakers are still rounding out their roster and the front office is eyeing some depth at the center position with Bulls big man Jalen Smith reportedly having fans within the organization.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
