Kind words do not, according to Bryant, convey that message as well as Jackson's action - which was, simply, to return as Bryant's coach.
"It says a lot," Bryant said. "When everything went down a few summers ago, everybody was pointing the finger at me because I re-signed. So people asked me about it, and I told them, 'I had nothing to do with it.' They didn't believe me.
"They asked me, 'Well, should you clarify ' What the hell more clarification could I do? So I just said, 'You know what? I'll just shut up. They're going to think what they want to think.'
"Now a couple years go by. Phil comes back. And it's like, 'Oh, maybe he really didn't have anything to do with it.' It's like, 'No, you idiot, that's only what I've been saying for the past two years, but y'all idiots don't want to listen!'"
"It says a lot," Bryant said. "When everything went down a few summers ago, everybody was pointing the finger at me because I re-signed. So people asked me about it, and I told them, 'I had nothing to do with it.' They didn't believe me.
"They asked me, 'Well, should you clarify ' What the hell more clarification could I do? So I just said, 'You know what? I'll just shut up. They're going to think what they want to think.'
"Now a couple years go by. Phil comes back. And it's like, 'Oh, maybe he really didn't have anything to do with it.' It's like, 'No, you idiot, that's only what I've been saying for the past two years, but y'all idiots don't want to listen!'"
"Say I have the drive to be one of the best in the game, right?" Bryant said. "In order to accomplish that, that cannot be the focus. The focus has to be on improving us as a team. Let go of those individual goals, because then they'll come back to you.
"That happened to me years ago when Phil first got here and we were winning our first and second championships. I just absolutely let go of all the individual accolades that I wanted, and it all came right back around to me. That is when I started getting recognition - as the best player in the game."
"That happened to me years ago when Phil first got here and we were winning our first and second championships. I just absolutely let go of all the individual accolades that I wanted, and it all came right back around to me. That is when I started getting recognition - as the best player in the game."
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sports/abox/article_745477.php