“We had a little meeting in the cigar room of the bar downstairs,” Jackson explained. “Kobe came in after taking a shower and the press stuff while Michael and I were seated there. Taking a seat, he replied, “Michael, I can take you one-on-one.” ‘Well, I believe you might, I’m 37, you’re 22, right?’ Michael responded.
That a 22-year-old Kobe would have told Jordan that isn’t all that shocking. At that age, he was a multiple All-Star and would have trusted himself to defeat anyone in a one-on-one match.
Years later, Jordan acknowledged that Kobe’s ability to defeat him 1-on-1 during his prime was solely due to Bryant’s theft of all of his skills. Nobody studied Jordan’s game as well as Kobe did, and who are we to disagree with the GOAT himself if he thinks Bryant has a chance to defeat him?
When Phil Jackson Was Most Satisfied With Kobe Bryant
Bryant and Jackson weren’t always in the best of relationships. Jackson even wrote a book called The Last Season, in which he harshly criticized Kobe, after their first season together, which lasted from 1999 to 2004. After that, it didn’t seem like the relationship would ever work out, but during their second period together, which lasted from 2005 until 2011, they were extremely close.
Jackson spoke about his proudest moment of Kobe during this event, and it had nothing to do with any of his memorable on-court achievements. (begins at 10:08 in the video above):
“Jay Leno invited the team to go on the Tonight Show and about seven or eight of them came on the Tonight Show,” said Jackson. “A portion of them were seated on seats in the rear, while some were in the front. “Who’s this guy that was always in uniform or never in uniform, always dressed, and is sitting behind you right there?” asked Jay Leno, attempting to make jokes.
Bryant did not like that Leno was making fun of Adam Morrison, who had not played much for the Lakers in the 2009–10 campaign.
“‘Don’t make fun of Adam Morrison, Kobe urged. As one of our coworkers, he works hard and contributes. Even though he doesn’t get to wear clothes, he works hard and is a member of our team. And that’s when I realized I was the happiest about Kobe,” Jackson said.
By then, Bryant had established a reputation for being indifferent to his teammates and other things. But that moment demonstrated how much he had changed as a man and a leader over the years, so it seems sense that the 68-year-old was most proud of Kobe for that particular moment.
Combined, their collaboration produced five NBA titles and saw Bryant win his lone MVP award in 2008. Without a question, Kobe would have had an incredible career under any coach, but I’m not convinced he would have achieved the same degree of team success without Jackson.