One of the most decorated head coaches of the NBA and eleven-time NBA championship winner HC, Phil Jackson, had a unique way of coaching the Los Angeles Lakers and the legendary, Kobe Bryant.
In one of the episodes of “Podcast P with Paul George”, Brian Shaw, the three-time NBA champion, who played with the Lakers from 1999 to 2003, explained why Jackson turned towards a different approach when it came to Kobe “Black Mamba” Bryant.
Shaw shared, “Phil never liked to have team meetings and so we insisted one day, we like, ‘You know what? F*** what you talking about, because everybody was mad because early on, Kobe wouldn’t pass the ball,’’’ Shaw said. “So, Phil had no problem cussing (Shaquille O’Neal) out, getting on Shaq’s a** but he would never say anything to Kobe early on.”
Shaw then went on to share and give a comparison to the Lakers’ situation with his German Shepherds. Shaw also won two NBA titles when he was an assistant coach. He then explained that his dog trainer had advised him not to say “no” to his dogs till they were six months old, as to build complete confidence.
The boosting of complete confidence is what Jackson was doing with Kobe, Shaw interrelated his theory with the then-Lakers situation. He further continued, “Shaw then revealed he had German Shepherds and was told by his dog trainer not to say no to them in the first six to eight months. It was to build the dog’s confidence, and Jackson was using a similar approach while dealing with Bryant.”
Shaw went on to explain, “His (O’Neal’s) stepfather was military, right? Yes sir, no sir and whatever you asked him to do and told him to, he was obedient. Kobe was that German Shepherd puppy that nobody ever said no to, right? He had sisters, he was the only boy, father played in the NBA and he was the Golden Child, right?”
“And then Phil nurtured that confidence in him at the detriment, now 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,” Shaq said. “But not saying a whole lot to Kobe… And we needed that. He was always in attack mode.”
Jackson is considered one of the greatest coaches in the league and the way he handled and managed to take the Lakers to incredible heights was highly applauded and profoundly appreciated by Kobe and the entire league. Shaw also believed that Jackson’s approach was right.
