For quite some time, there was an ongoing debate about whether Kobe Bryant deserves to be in the same conversation as Michael Jordan in terms of overall play and greatness. It’s still discussed by some to this day.
One person that would really have a concrete idea of the matter is Phil Jackson, who coached both players and saw the best and worst of the two in their respective prime. He, however, never wanted to get into great detail when comparing the players.
Until now, that is. In his upcoming book “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success” Jackson discusses the many differences between Kobe and Michael. Mostly, he talks about how much better Jordan was. Mike Bresnahan of Los Angeles Times has the snippets:
“No question, Michael was a tougher, more intimidating defender. He could break through virtually any screen and shut down almost any player with his intense, laser-focused style of defense,” said Jackson, who coached Jordan to six championships and Bryant to five. “Kobe has learned a lot from studying Michael’s tricks, and we often used him as our secret weapon on defense when we needed to turn the direction of a game. In general, Kobe tends to rely more heavily on his flexibility and craftiness, but he takes a lot of gambles on defense and sometimes pays the price.”
Jackson also talked about the two players’ respective personalities:
“Michael was more charismatic and gregarious than Kobe. He loved hanging out with his teammates and security guards, playing cards, smoking cigars, and joking around,” Jackson said in the book, which was obtained in advance by The Times. “Kobe is different. He was reserved as a teenager, in part because he was younger than the other players and hadn’t developed strong social skills in college. When Kobe first joined the Lakers, he avoided fraternizing with his teammates. But his inclination to keep to himself shifted as he grew older. Increasingly, Kobe put more energy into getting to know the other players, especially when the team was on the road.”
And off the topic, Jackson explained what he had to do to get Metta World Peace on his side:
“Why are you always picking on me?” asked World Peace after Jackson gave him some early advice on his shooting style. “I didn’t know I was picking on you,” replied Jackson. “I’m just trying to help you along.” Jackson’s assistant Brian Shaw pulled him aside with a warning, “You’re walking a dangerous line there, Phil.” Taking Shaw’s advice, Jackson learned a different approach to getting through to World Peace. “After that incident, I realized that the best way to communicate with Ron was to couch everything in a positive way — not just with the words I used, but with my gestures and facial expressions as well,” writes Jackson. “Eventually, he found out the system and, with the help of Kobe [Bryant] and others, began integrating himself into the team’s DNA.”
The books will be available in stores on May 21, and clearly, it is going to be worth a purchase.
Onto other news from around the league: