Roland Lazenby has written books about Phil Jackson's Bulls, Phil Jackson's Lakers, and Kobe Bryant. (His Laker book "The Show" is fantastic.) So he knows a thing or two about the way Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant relate. Lazenby is also exceedingly close to longtime Jackson assistant Tex Winter.
As Kobe Bryant pours points and victories all over the league, Lazenby remembers when a much-younger Bryant told him, simply, that he just wanted to be "the man." He wanted to dominate.
After some detours, this is looking like it could be that time.
Lazenby writes on his Lakernoise blog:
After Bryant scored 60 in a road win over the Memphis Grizzlies recently, Jackson told reporters, "At one point, we got the offensive rebound and (had) a whole new 24-second (shot clock) left. Lamar (Odom) gave the ball right back to him and Kobe went right back at them. He just smells blood in the water and he's going to go after you."
I interviewed Jackson many times during his years as coach of the Chicago Bulls. The "blood in the water" quote was the sort of commentary he frequently offered about the incomparable Michael Jordan.
In Bryant's career with the Lakers, I can't recall Jackson offering a truly Jordanesque quote about Bryant. Oh, Jackson has had plenty of nice things to say, some of them genuine.
But I perceive this quote as different. Kobe Bryant has finally achieved the status he has sought so long.
He finally has neared the level of respect, even reverence, that Jackson accorded Jordan.
It has taken him a long time to earn that status. Fans still withhold from him the respect they gave to Jordan, the sense that Jordan was bullet-proof, that he could do no wrong in their eyes.
Because of the criminal allegations in his past, because of the perception of his selfishness, Bryant may never be accorded that level of respect by the fans.
But there's no question this is a new day. Bryant has arrived at his moment, able to use his full arsenal truly for the first time. His three big scoring games in a row all resulted in Lakers wins. He is the man at last, the dominance he sought in his youthful vision.
