Lakernoise

Kobe Bryant played a key role in his Lakers winning the 2000 NBA championship. He played brilliantly against the Indiana Pacers in overtime of Game 4 of the NBA Finals and used an open court look, set up by his coaches, to win the game.

It’s been 10 years since Bryant and Phil Jackson embarked on a remarkable run that would net seven trips to the NBA Finals and five league championships.

In the wake of the Lakers’ 17^th title in 2010 (the franchise won one in 1948 in the National Basketball League, which was far superior to the early NBA), I’m publishing excerpts of a private conversation I had with Kobe Bryant right after the 2000 title, his first with the Lakers. Portions of this interview were later used in the paperback edition of my book about a young Bryant’s hard adjustment to pro hoops, “Mad Game, The NBA Education of Kobe Bryant.”

In that key Game 4 in 2000, Phil Jackson and Tex Winter ordered the Lakers to spread the floor wide to confuse the Indiana Pacers defense. This , and the Lakers’ surprise use of the screen and roll, freed up Bryant to score down the stretch of the key games in the series.

When they coached the Bulls, Winter and Jackson would always wait for key moments in the playoffs to use their spread floor or “open court” look. The Bulls soundly beat the Miami Heat in the 1997 playoffs by spreading the floor and later did the same thing to the Utah Jazz in the championship series that year. Spreading the floor is one of the subtleties in Tex Winter’s triangle offense, just one of the reasons that  Bryant fell in love with it.

Q: Phil Jackson often had long, deep conversations with Shaquille O’Neal. But Phil never had such conversations with you. You kept expecting to talk with him the whole season, but you never got that opportunity to sit down and talk about life with him?

Bryant: No, not to that extent. But I’m sure we’ll have one before next season starts.

Q: Tex Winter’s offensive system has some surprises that worked well for you in the playoffs.

Bryant: The system worked out well for us. In the fourth quarter, the triangle offense sometimes kind of goes out the window a little bit. The system in itself allows us to spread the floor toward the end of the game and penetrate. That works because with the triangle offense everybody is a threat throughout the ball game. So the defense is scared to leave off of guys to try to stop me. They’re scared to leave off of Robert (Horry) and they’re scared to leave Rick (Fox) alone to try to stop me, because they know those guys will make shots.”

Q: In Game 4 against Indiana at the end, that spread floor worked well?

Bryant: “In Game 4 it worked really well. We were able to spread the floor, and I hit a couple of jump shots for us and took us to the brink. Now we are champions.

During the season, I wanted to use the spread floor. I told him, ‘Phil, man, why don’t you open the court?’ He said, ‘We’re not ready for that. We’ll get to that.’ I say open it up. That’s when I can go to work. But I’m glad that we waited till the playoffs to use it.

Q: On the night you won the championship, in Game 6, you also went to a different look at the end of the game. That time you went to screen and roll action, which is something the Lakers hadn’t done all year until the playoffs. It surprised the Pacers?

Bryant: “Yeah, we went back to the same thing that worked for us in Game 4, spreading the floor and penetrating, and then attacking them. I was able to get to the free throw line and knock down some free throws.”

Q: Have you ever had a more emotional day than the day you guys won the championship?

Bryant: The whole day was just emotionally draining. You know what though? It was fun. Emotionally draining, but a lot of fun. Just going through it. Stepping up to the challenge and responding to it mentally. It was a lot of fun.”

Q: What was the main thing you learned? I know it was a long season with a lot of lessons, but what was the most important?

Bryant: The biggest thing, from a basketball standpoint, was learning when to attack.

Q: From a personal standpoint, was your main lesson about sacrifice?

Bryant: Not really. Other people had to sacrifice on this team. I think my teammates did a good job of sacrificing, allowing me to be myself and allowing me to grow. I really didn’t have to make that many individual sacrifices on this team. I just continued to play my game, and my teammates understood that and they played around me.”

Q: How important has Ron Harper been to you in learning to be a better defender?

Bryant: I learn more from Harp about position defense, because he doesn’t really have the ability to move like he used to. He plays position defense very well. Ron helps me out a lot, though.

Q: During games if you started doing too much, Harper would get in your ear and tell you to slow down. How important was that?

Bryant: It was important because we’re communicating. He’s been there before. He knows what to do in certain situations. A lot of times we just talk strategy. He’s like a player/coach. He’s been there with Phil before. He knows what Phil likes to do. He knows what to run when the shot clock is going down,, whether it’s a three pass or a four pass or whatever. Harp has been instrumental in my growth. He’s helped me this year as a basketball player figuring out my teammates, understanding them better.

Q: Harper has been greater for you than any other player you’ve ever played with?

Bryant: Absolutely. Harper has definitely been more of a mentor for me than other players I’ve played with in the past. No question about it.

Q: How was your relationship with Shaq this year?

Bryant: We’ve always had a mutual understanding. Shaq is more vocal than I am, and he knows that. Me, I lead by example. We just do it our separate ways. That’s all we did all season long. It just depended on what we needed in certain situations. So even though we go our separate ways, it all linked up in the end.

Q: Did you guys have a better chemistry this year than in the past?

Bryant: Oh, hell yes. Now we understand one another. We grew up together. We came here together, grew up in the spotlight together, took our knocks together.

Q: What was the problem with other Laker coaches in the past? Did they seem to doubt themselves?

Bryant: I don’t think they were as sharp and had as much confidence as Phil has with his coaching staff. Phil and Tex Winter have been real demanding of me, because they wanted me to figure out about this game. It’s important for somebody to give you the direction. And the coaching staff we have now makes it a lot easier. You can go to them for advice, for game film, anything for improvement. It’s good to have that information from them. You don’t have to seek it out.

Q: Why did the triangle work for you guys?

Bryant: The concept is a team game. Hit the first man that’s open. That makes it harder for teams to guard you, because they can’t key on one man. There’s constant movement of the ball. When you have players with the athletic ability of myself and Shaq, it makes it easier for the other guys on  our team. It’s cool, man. It makes it very difficult for defenses because they cannot relax. As soon as they relax, boom, we’re gone. We’re moving with a purpose.

Q: When you decide to drop out of your offense, to move without using the triangle, do you have to explain that to the coaches later?

Bryant: (laughs) With Tex Winter, yeah. Tex is so pure with the game. ‘Move the ball! Swing the ball!’ We’re like, ‘Tex, man, chill.’ It’s hilarious. But Phil’s assistant coaches are as sharp as Phil is. They don’t play around. They know what needs to be done and they do it. They sit there watching the game like hound dogs, making sure you do everything fundamentally correct. Especially Tex. Look at Tex. He’s always the only one with a worried look on his face. He’s got that look 24 hours a day. He’s a perfectionist.

Q: You had said that you hoped to be coached by Tex before that ever happened. It was strange that you sensed Tex Winter would coach you long before it ever happened. That was almost a mystical thing with you.

Bryant: It’s kind of weird. I had always had this feeling that I was going to play in this system, with the triangle. I had a feeling I would. I told Eddie Jones that when we played together here. I told him, it would be nice to get this triangle here.

Q: When you first met Phil in his hotel room after he was hired as coach of the Lakers, what was it like?

Bryant: I was like, ‘Let’s go.’ I don’t want to talk. Let’s do something!’

Q: What did you think of adding Brian Shaw to the team last year? What did you think when he arrived? Did you know him?

Bryant: I knew he owed me a pizza. I shot his lights out when I was like 12. He played for an Italian team in Rome back then (1989-90), and my father played for another Italian team. We got to shoot, and I shot his lights out. That was the first thing I said when I saw him with the Lakers. Because I didn’t know he was coming to our team. Then I saw him at the gym, and I was like, ‘Yo, Brian, where’s my pizza, man?’ He started laughing.”

Q: Kobe, who plays you the toughest, makes you play your best game?

Bryant: Eric Snow in Philly, he makes me play tough. He pressures me a little bit, has quick hands. The Sixers in general play me solid defensively. He won’t this next year, though.

Q: When you came back from injury last fall, a lot of people figured Phil was going to jump in and try to tell you what to do. But he didn’t do that?

Bryant: He let me do my own thing. It was important because he understood that’s how I am. I  like to do my own thing. He knows and has the trust in me that I’m gonna be prepared.

Q: Some players on the team said he was allowing you to change yourself?

Bryant: I didn’t even think about it. I just went with it.

Q; Phil brought in George Mumford, the sports psychologist, the Zen teacher and tai chi expert, to work with you guys. How was that?

Bryant: It was good because it gave people a chance to talk about things that might be on their mind, the hype, the pressure. I think it’s good for them to talk about those things. It increased our performance a lot. It really has. I’m surprised other teams don’t do that kKind of stuff. Working with George helps us to get issues out of the way before they even start.

Q: The pressure of performance, of the playoffs, can be destructive to players and to teams?

Bryant: Yeah, once it creeps into your team and your teammates, it can be destructive. Some people know how to handle it, some people don’t. The pressure can get to you. You got to know how to suck it up.

Q: Most NBA players don’t want to even acknowledge pressure. It’s a macho thing.

Bryant: The pressure is there, the pressure is there. But it’s how you deal with it. When you feel it, it’s how you deal with it.

Q: NBA players have tremendous pressure on them during the playoffs. If they play well, their futures will be successful. If they don’t, their stars will fall.

Bryant: You just give it your best. You prepare yourself as well as you can. You go out there and execute as well as you can. Then you sleep at night. That’s all. Then you get up the next day and do the same thing. Keep it simple.

Roland Lazenby is the author of Jerry West, The Life And Legend Of A Basketball Icon, recently released by ESPN Books.