One of Phil Jackson's strengths as a coach is his ability to get players to accept their roles. That's one of his greatest assets. That's not easy to do. He had a little trouble with that a few years ago with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, but for the most part he's done a very good job of that.
Kobe is gradually growing up. He's made some mistakes, some horrible mistakes. He's extremely talented. You can give Jerry West the credit for seeing the possibilities early on and making the trade to get him. He's lived up to what Jerry thought he was, and maybe even better. Talent-wise, he's just amazing.
The box office depends on individuals. There aren't too many people in the Laker organization who are unhappy that he gets the attention that he does. They want somebody who gets attention, even if not all of it is good. I think he made some mistakes. We're all imperfect. Mother Teresa said that forgiveness sets you free.
As for Shaquille, I think he's always going to be a kid. As great as he is, I don't like him saying, "Everybody knows who the MVE is — the Most Valuable Ever." That's really childish in many ways. I wouldn't pick him over a number of other centers if I had a team of my own. But at the same time, I think he's the most valuable player in the game.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-125woodenmar30,1,6262638.story?page=1&coll=la-headlines-sports
Kobe is gradually growing up. He's made some mistakes, some horrible mistakes. He's extremely talented. You can give Jerry West the credit for seeing the possibilities early on and making the trade to get him. He's lived up to what Jerry thought he was, and maybe even better. Talent-wise, he's just amazing.
The box office depends on individuals. There aren't too many people in the Laker organization who are unhappy that he gets the attention that he does. They want somebody who gets attention, even if not all of it is good. I think he made some mistakes. We're all imperfect. Mother Teresa said that forgiveness sets you free.
As for Shaquille, I think he's always going to be a kid. As great as he is, I don't like him saying, "Everybody knows who the MVE is — the Most Valuable Ever." That's really childish in many ways. I wouldn't pick him over a number of other centers if I had a team of my own. But at the same time, I think he's the most valuable player in the game.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-125woodenmar30,1,6262638.story?page=1&coll=la-headlines-sports
