In an effort to promote his new book Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson has been doing the rounds on talk shows as well as sports talk radio.
During these promotional appearances, Jackson talked a lot about his time with the Los Angeles Lakers franchise and events that happened behind the scenes. With all the drama going on with the Lakers during the three consecutive titles won by the team, the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s conflict was the main topic of discussion with the team’s superstars failing to see eye-to-eye.
Jackson said the following on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart about the Kobe-Shaq feud and the challenge of coaching through it:
“It’s probably the greatest challenge I had through all my years (in reference to the Kobe-Shaq relationship) because there was always this tension about “it’s my-team, it’s my-team.”
Although Kobe and Shaq’s relationship was obviously a big distraction at the time, the dynasty and the three titles won in consecutive years was worth the hassle of dealing with huge egos. The fact that it turned out to be the biggest coaching challenge of Jackson’s legendary career is amazing considering the result of the Kobe and Shaq years in Los Angeles.
