While former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson enjoys retirement, arguably the greatest NBA coach of all time has not been able to stay out of the spotlight.
Jackson recently spoke with Rick Fox of NBA TV about a number of different topics, including Kobe Bryant and his recent battle with injuries. Jackson believes that once Bryant is back on the floor for the Lakers that he’ll be remain the dominant scorer of old according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“I think he’ll be back,” Jackson said. “I think Kobe is going to be still a scorer. He can score. We saw Michael Jordan at the end of his career still scoring 20 points a game and he was 37-38, I think. Maybe he was 38-39, I can’t really remember. But I think Kobe can still post up. I think he can still be a good screen-roll player. He’s going to hit shots. He can still shoot the 3-pointer. I think he’s really realistic about it. He’s really pleased. He felt like, you know, I will come back.”
At 35-years-old, Bryant is nearing the end of his career in the NBA and is fully aware of that fact. The perennial All-Star has a lot of miles on his legs and knows that he can no longer do things he was able to do with relative ease even five years ago.
With that being said, the future Hall of Famer may need to make some adjustments moving forward. Parts of his game may need to change in order for his body handle the rigors of an NBA season over the next two years at an advanced age.
Bryant’s future still remains up in the air in terms of whether or not he’ll be able to play at a high level once again. Even if Bryant is inevitably headed toward a disappointing end to his career due to persistent injuries, the superstar will continue to strive toward getting back on the floor and reclaiming his status as an elite NBA player.
It’ll be interesting to see if Bryant returns this season and is able to make an impact on this team that can’t seem to get back on track.
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