Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant had a rocky relationship when they were still together in Los Angeles Lakers.
Their coach and player tandem went through challenges and media surely covered all of it. Jackson, who is now the president of New York Knicks, released a book in 2004, few years after his Lakers three-peat was ended.
This book, according to critics, is pointedly critical of Kobe Bryant.
Fourteen years after, Kobe Bryant made an indirect response to his former coach's claim he is uncoachable. The Los Angeles Lakers star said 'he could've gone anywhere' and score 35 points a game but he chose to play with Shaquille O'Neal. This comments by Kobe Bryant reached Phil Jackson and the latter understands why KB24 made that statement.
"Ah, my good friend Kobe Bryant.... Yes, quite often I could feel his hatred. I'm sure Kobe was pissed when I wrote in 'The Last Season' that he was uncoachable. And, yes, we were often at loggerheads. He wanted more freedom and I wanted him to be more disciplined. This is a normal source of friction thing between coaches and players on just about every level of competition," Phil Jackson said of Kobe Bryant's statement during an interview with ESPN.
Phil Jackson knows there was tension between him and Kobe Bryant but argued in the ESPN article they were able to fix their misunderstanding when he came back to coach Los Angeles Lakers in 2005. Purple and Gold won two championships in three finals trip.
"But when I came back for my second stint with the Lakers, Kobe and I worked it all out. I gave him more of a license to do his thing, as long as it stayed within the overall context of the triangle. And we did win two more championships. Anyway, I've always seen Kobe as a truly great player, an intelligent guy and a remarkable person."
