Kobe Bryant weighs in on Clippers, Blake Griffin dunk, Phil Jackson’s future
Lakers star Kobe Bryant joined the show to talk about his season and much more. Here are some of his takes:
— Dan asked if it bothered him that the Clippers have gotten so much attention. “As a group we used that to motivate us,” Bryant said. “We hadn’t been in the position to be an underdog during our championship runs. Last year at this time we were on a 17-1 stretch. We were running through the league. Being an underdog is a situation we’re pretty unfamiliar with. We used that as fuel.”
— Kobe said that the team teased Pau Gasol after Blake Griffin posterized him. “You have to,” Bryant said. “That’s the kind of group we have. You have to have thick skin in our group. We were teasing him during the next timeout.”
— Kobe looked back on all the chaos this year, with trade rumors and issues with the coach: “Isn’t it crazy? It’s one of the beauties of playing in Los Angeles. There always seems to be a story. We have a mature enough group that we can withstand those type of things.”
— Kobe isn’t surprised there’s more rumors on Phil Jackson returning, but doesn’t think he will. “Every time there’s a coaching vacancy his name’s going to come up no matter what,” Bryant said. “He could be the greatest coach of all time in any sport.