Kobe advises Knicks fans to place trust in Phil Jackson
With their championship drought likely to extend to 43 years this June, it's tough to criticize New York Knicks fans if they don't have complete faith in their squad.
However, 18-time All-Star Kobe Bryant doesn't think the Knicks faithful have much to worry about considering they have one of the most successful individuals in league history as their president and general manager.
"People in New York just need to trust the fact that he knows more about basketball than any of them put together," Bryant said regarding 13-time NBA champion Phil Jackson after Sunday's game between the two teams, according to ESPN's Ian Begley.
Jackson won five championships as head coach of Bryant's Lakers from 2000-2010 and although this is his first time undertaking an executive role, Bryant still sees a lot of similarities between the two positions.
Kobe called Phil Jackson "the greatest coach of any profession ever." Kobe: "You don’t win any of those championships without him."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 14, 2016
"As a coach you obviously have more control over the outcome, to a certain extent," Bryant said. "What he does now is really understanding the personnel. But that's no different than what he did as a coach. As a coach, he would have broke down the players, understood the players. That's the same thing he has to do as a GM."
While 2015-16 is likely a lost cause at this point, Knicks fans can take solace in the fact that Jackson expects to tinker with the roster this summer.
"We definitely (have) ideas about how to help this team. I don't think there are secrets or mysteries," Jackson said. "We have agents calling us up all the time trying to sell their players to us, so I think we're going to do just fine in free agency."