Capítulo 1386: Chapter 435: This Season, I Want to Beco MVP
Kobe Bryant’s actions in the locker room caught Phil Jackson off guard.
Kobe has changed, matured.
But so essential things about him have never changed.
He cannot tolerate anyone disrespecting victory.
This is also the true root of his conflict with Shaquille O’Neal.
To soone like Kobe, Dwight Howard’s behavior and LeBron Jas’s remarks after losing the opening ga were as offensive as putting pineapple on Italian pizza or fish cilantro on an egg tart.
This completely ignited him.
Howard, Jas, and Kobe—Phil Jackson thinks these three are hard to coexist over the long term.
But Phil Jackson doesn’t care about the Lakers’ long-term plans; he only needs to ensure that the team stays normal and competitive this season.
If this season really is Roger’s last dance, the team that defeats Roger will be rembered forever, as will its head coach.
Phil Jackson is very interested in participating in such historical events; he’s always been this kind of person, forever chasing greatness. Like a sensitive-nosed hunting dog, he appears whenever there’s a chance to chase greatness.
He wants to be the coach who defeats Roger, and only the Lakers’ lineup has the potential to do that.
Therefore, he needs to ensure everything is normal for the team this season, making sure this brilliant Lakers team doesn’t turn into a farewell firework for Roger.
The Zen Master is uncertain what subtle changes might occur in the Lakers’ locker room after Kobe’s speech there. That night, no one defied Kobe; everyone added an hour of jump shot practice, with Kobe adding an extra half hour for himself; no conflicts or confrontations occurred.
But just because no one defied him then doesn’t an there was no discontent.
Maybe the crack is still small now. But as the season goes on, who knows if it will widen. The locker room atmosphere is like the only GOAT in Nets’ history, Ben Simmons, when you think he’s already pulling poorly, rember, he can pull even worse.
Kobe has his own way of dealing with teammates. Phil Jackson once tried to change Kobe, but now he knows that’s impossible.
You can’t stop soone like Kobe from inadvertently creating cracks in the locker room.
So right now, Phil Jackson’s approach is simple—he’ll use glue to temporarily hold that crack together.
The relationship between Kobe and Jas is key to whether the Lakers can succeed this year.
The day after the regular season opener, the exhausted Lakers team flew back to Los Angeles.
Everyone was tired, but the Lakers’ old defensive coach Michael Cooper was quite indifferent.
The Los Angeles Lakers team, led by Pat Riley in the ’80s, spent almost every day like that.
This current Lakers team should feel fortunate; nowadays, there aren’t many coaches who like to manage a team the way they manage a farm.
Although there was so minor unpleasantness last night, the team’s overall atmosphere was quite normal today.
Jas and Kobe sat together, chatting and laughing.
Not just with Jas, Kobe’s attitude towards everyone returned to normal.
He joked with Dwight Howard, deliberately mimicking Sasha Vujacic’s gesture of fixing his hair while shooting free throws, making the whole team laugh.
He seed to forget what he said in the locker room last night: “You shouldn’t love ; you should hate .”
Yet, imdiately afterward, Kobe told the team, “Everyone rest well today. Tomorrow morning, practice starts half an hour early, which ans you must be at the training ground at least 45 minutes early to not be late. No negotiations, no excuses.”
He forgot nothing; he rembered everything.
In life, he might no longer be that reclusive bastard, but on the training ground, he’ll make everyone hate him.
Phil Jackson saw all this and was satisfied with the situation.
Fine, at least the crack hasn’t reached the point where glue can’t fix it.
As long as he uses the glue in ti, he can prevent a collapse from happening.
After getting off the plane, Phil Jackson found Jas: “Do you have ti tonight, LeBron?”
“Of course, is there sothing, Phil?”
“I’d like to have dinner with you.”
Jas looked a bit cautiously at the Zen Master: “Just you and ? No Kobe?”
“Just you and .”
“Ti and place, I’ll be there.” Jas didn’t refuse because he knew this wasn’t just a dinner.
“I’ll send it to you later.”
Jas could probably guess why Phil Jackson wanted to have dinner with him alone, definitely related to what happened in the locker room last night.
That evening, Jas arrived punctually at the restaurant chosen by Phil Jackson.
The Zen Master had booked an entire floor to ensure they wouldn’t be disturbed.
When Jas sat down, he saw a brand new, unopened book on the table.
Jas had long heard that Phil Jackson liked giving books to players, never expecting that soday it would be his turn.
The book was “Don Quixote,” a 17th-century classic by the Spanish author Cervantes Saavedra, a chivalric novel about anti-knight knights. Jas had heard of it long before but never read it.
Like all the other players who received books from Phil Jackson, Jas temporarily didn’t know what Phil Jackson wanted to express through this book, but he accepted it gladly.
“Thanks, Phil, I will read every page seriously. You know, I love reading as much as I love basketball.”
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