Knicks: Kobe Bryant Says Fans Need to Trust Phil Jackson
Kobe Bryant has a message for New York Knicks fans who are skeptical of team president Phil Jackson. To politely paraphrase: “Trust him.”
Kobe Bryant is one of the most objectively successful players in NBA history. He’s No. 3 on the all-time scoring list, has five championship rings, three Finals MVP awards, and a regular season MVP trophy sitting next to his two scoring titles.
If you ask Bryant, none of that would’ve been possible without the man who New York Knicks fans are publicly criticizing and doubting: Phil Jackson.
Bryant, who played his final game against the Knicks on Sunday, March 13, weighed in on Jackson’s tenure as New York’s team president. He spoke at length about The Zen Master’s influence on his personal career, as well as what he brings to the table as team president.
Bryant, never one to bite his tongue, produced this gem in offering advice to Knicks fans who are skeptical of Jackson’s vision as team president, per Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated:
Kobe Bryant on Phil Jackson: "The people in New York need to trust the fact he knows more about the game than any of them put together."
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) March 14, 2016
Those aren’t the most endearing of words, but the first part of that statement is undeniably accurate.
Jackson won two championships as a key role player for the only two New York Knicks teams to win an NBA title. He then won six championships as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, and another five as the sideline general for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Per Ian Begley of ESPN New York, Bryant is ready for your rebuttal that Jackson won because of his players. Fresh from the player’s mouth, it’s more than just an off-base and uneducated belief.
It’s, “The silliest thing [Kobe has] heard:”
"“I think we don’t win any of those championships without him, I don’t think Chicago wins any of those championships without him,” Bryant said. “And, I heard the argument that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard, that Phil won because he had great players. No s— Sherlock. What are you going to win with, a bunch of scrubs? It’s like the silliest argument in the world to me.”"
Once again, Bryant is brash and, in all fairness, correct.
Michael Jordan couldn’t get past the second round until Jackson became head coach, and Bryant failed to make the playoffs in his lone prime season without The Zen Master. Moreover, Jackson helped Bryant and Jordan find stability with their teammates.
Both abrasive in their leadership styles, Jackson found a way to smooth things over for as long as possible between teammates—€”Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal—who didn’t always see eye to eye.
True as that may be, Jackson isn’t coaching the Knicks. He’s a front office executive, and that’s a role that he’s never been in until his tenure in New York—no matter how much pull he had as a coach of Chicago and Los Angeles.
Thus, the results accumulated as a player and coach are understandably brushed aside by skeptical fans and critics.
The reality is, Jackson hasn’t just won at every stage of his NBA career; he’s repeatedly reached the promise land. He played with an untamable tenacity, and coached with an incomparably brilliant understanding of how to balance the schematics with the need to reach a player personally.
Always one to give his honest opinion, Bryant had the highest of praise for the man who helped him win all five of his NBA championships.
Kobe on Phil Jackson: "In my opinion, he’s the greatest coach in any profession ever."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 14, 2016
There’s certainly a case to be made for others, but the list of rational options to place above Jackson is slim.
Jackson has more championships as a coach than anyone in league history. He has a career regular season win percentage of .704, and has an astonishing mark of .688 during the playoffs—the realm in which he’s won as many titles as a coach as Bill Russell did as a player.
Jackson also has a pair of rings from his days as a player with an organization that just doesn’t win.
Since Jackson helped the Knicks win it all in 1970 and 1973, New York has made two NBA Finals appearances with zero rings to show for it.
Perhaps trusting someone with 13 championships to run the organization isn’t the worst idea, after all.