A makeshift sign says 'Kobe Bryant Park' in a New York City subway station on Monday, following the former NBA star's sudden death. (Photo: Shahrzad Elghanayan)
"That was wrong," he said."I am a maniacal worker, and if you're not working as hard as I am, I am going to let you know about it. That's why Shaq and I still have a good relationship: He knows I have zero fear of him. I would tell him what he was doing and what he wasn't doing. And vice versa."
Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson wrote about the rivalry and his difficulties with Bryant in his 2004 tell-all book,"The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul." Jackson wrote that Bryant was uncoachable and that his star player wanted more freedom, while Jackson believed he needed discipline. Jackson said in subsequent interviews that he had learned to communicate better with Bryant in his last few seasons coaching the Lakers, although the pair's relationship was strained.
Kobe Bryant, Lindsey Hunter and Shaquille O'Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrate after winning the NBA championship against the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in June 2002."I've always seen Kobe as a truly great player, an intelligent guy and a remarkable person," JacksonJackson was at the helm when Bryant was embroiled in controversy off the court: A 19-year-old hotel desk clerk in Colorado accused him of raping her in 2003.
"I had to separate myself," Kobe said in his Showtime documentary."It felt like there were so many things coming at once. It was just becoming very, very confusing. I had to organize things. So I created The Black Mamba."
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