Tex To Kobe: The Lakers Are Where You Belong
By Roland Lazenby | The Show with Roland Lazenby, Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, ColumnBack in the good old days, when he was remarkably mistake free, I used to marvel at Kobe Bryant. How could he be so young and make such good decisions?
I posed that question and he launched into an answer without hesitation: It’s not that you don’t make mistakes, he said. It’s just that you must be very careful, once you make a mistake, not to follow one bad decision with more bad decisions.
The secret, he said, was not to compound your problems.
Obviously, Bryant was quoting someone else’s wisdom, because once he began making those big nasty mistakes that tend to define your life, he began showing a particular talent for compounding them.
Well, it’s time for all that to stop, Tex Winter told me in a recent phone conversation.
It’s time for Bryant to realize that being a Los Angeles Laker is the best possible situation for him, time for him to stop pushing for a trade, offered Winter, who over the years has been a mentor to both Lakers coach Phil Jackson and to Bryant himself.
“He should just play basketball where he is,” Winter said. “Los Angeles is a good spot for Kobe.”
Winter has expressed admiration for the Chicago Bulls and their talented young roster, but he never saw Bryant as a good fit there. “Frankly, I’m not sure how much he’d be able to help that club,” Winter said.
Winter, of course, is the man who innovated the triangle offense, then nurtured a young assistant named Phil Jackson into a triangle coach (he did much of that nurturing coaching with Phil years ago in the L.A. summer league). Jackson and Winter watched Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen mature into forces in the triangle that won six NBA championships. Then they came to Los Angeles and won three more titles by using the triangle to focus the effectiveness of Bryant and center Shaquille O’Neal.
Winter is now 85 and wracked by the pain of shingles in his chest, but he retains a high enthusiasm for the system of play he has spent decades developing. It remains a dandy offense, Winter says unabashedly. “We’ve used it so long, that concept. Gosh, look at how many years we’ve relied on that triangle, and the success we’ve had with it.” Bryant is simply the best triangle player, born for it, with his mix of physical ability, smarts and work ethic.
“And he knows it,” Winter said. “I wish he would concentrate on playing the game and making his teammates better and not worry about all this other stuff.”
In quiet, low-key ways, Bryant has perhaps moved into the mode that Winter hopes he’ll take. He had effusive praise this week for the work ethic of Andrew Bynum, the young Lakers center who just months ago Bryant had targeted as trade bait.
And Bryant has certainly played within the offense and in tune with his teammates in the early going this season.
“He’s trying to do what’s right,” Winter said of Bryant. “He’s certainly working at it. Defensively he’s improved. He’s trying to get better at off-the-ball defense. He’s always been very good as an on-ball defender.”
And Bryant certainly retains his titanium grade confidence, Winter said with a chuckle. “He hasn’t shot the ball well yet, but that’s not a concern with Kobe. He’s not concerned about anything as far as his play is concerned. He thinks he’s fine, thinks he’s the greatest. Phil has made that remark to him, trying to point out things about his game. But Kobe doesn’t worry. He’s something. He’s got tremendous confidence. That confidence is a key part of who he is.”
So, what is the key for Bryant and this young Lakers team in terms of becoming one of those great triangle teams? As always, it’s execution.
And execution also follows the familiar path: Fundamentals, and more fundamentals. That’s why Jordan and Pippen were so dedicated to working on all the little things in each Bulls practice, passing, cutting, running through the numerous drills that Winter has devised over the years for making players into effective triangle components.
It also means the Lakers need to take on more of a retro Bulls look.
“Remember all the third cutter looks we used to get with Horace Grant?” Winter asked. “Or what about the baseline cuts we used to get with Pippen and Jordan?”
The recent Lakers teams have gotten those passes every once in a while, but the key is their big men, Winter said. “Their game is not passing; it’s trying to score.”
Whereas the Bulls’ centers were great at finding a Jordan or a Pippen along the baseline, the Lakers centers haven’t shown great effectiveness there. The one center who has potential as a passer is the young Bynum, Winter said. “He does the best job of the three at seeing the cutter. The centers have to recognize that if the cutter’s not open, someone else will be. They need to get the ball back out and keep the offense moving.”
Like Bryant, Winter has been a critic of Bynum. And like Bryant, Winter is starting to see positive signs from the young guy. The key to Bynum’s improvement, Winter said, is learning to hold his position down on the block. “That’s one of his weaknesses, as big as he is. He’s inclined to get moved off the block too easily. Because he doesn’t hold his position as well on the block, teams don’t front him very much. They play behind him and force him out.”
As he learns to hold his position better, he’ll present more of a problem for defenses. As his passing improves, he’ll compound those problems for opponents.
The Lakers’ potential to reach the next level lies with Bynum’s work ethic and determination.
If Bryant stops and thinks about it, he’s actually much closer to getting the competitive team he wants in Los Angeles than he would be anywhere else, Winter says.
Bryant may have his faults, but lack of logic usually isn’t one of them. Perhaps that helps explain why he’s quietly moving back within the team and in the process slowly repairing the relationships around him.
Winter, meanwhile, watches many many basketball games a day from his Oregon home. The basketball helps take his mind off the pain of the shingles. He went to Lakers training camp in Hawaii this season, but he says the pain was so great that he wasn’t of any use to the team.
He’s scheduled to come to Los Angeles this week to serve in his regular role as a consultant to Jackson. That, of course, will depend on how the shingles are treating him. It goes without saying that Bryant’s recent play has gone a long way toward easing Winter’s pain.
Like many Lakers fans, the veteran coach is hoping the relief will be long-term.
Roland Lazenby is the author of “The Show, The Inside Story Of The Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers In The Words Of Those Who Lived It.”
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Great piece as usual Roland. Here’s a tip for Tex - if he wants to get rid of his shingles pain, tell him to go and see Dr. Drew Francis at Golden Cabinet in Los Angeles. I had shingles and the pain was excruciating - until Dr. Drew gave me accupuncture. The pain disappeared and never came back. Guy is a genius, and caters to a mostly celebrity clientele. He’s the real deal, and Tex will be out of pain.
Another great piece by Roland.
Nice work man. I like what Kobe is doing. Just needs to keep it up.
As for Tex Winter shingles, it is easily treated by Chinese Medicine. It refers to “catching snake” - Chinese (Fuchien dialect). Hope he looks it up.
I BELIEVE THE SUCCESS TO THIS LAKERS TEAM IS _ BRYANT NEEDS TO BRING THE TEAM TO HIS LEVEL OF DOMINANCE. BRYANT IS DOING THAT, BUT HAS TO COMMIT TO THE LAKER FAMILY THAT HE IS HERE TO STAY. MOST IMPORTANT IS REBUILD THE TRUST IN THE LAKER TEAM AND MOTIVATE THE LAKERS TEAM. REMEMBER LAST SEASON WHEN KOBE WAS SIDELINED ON OPENING NIGHT AGAINST THE SUNS. IT WAS THAT NIGHT THAT KOBE WHISPERED INTO LAMAR ODOMS EAR AND THE LAKERS LED BY ODOM CAME BACK FROM DOWN 20 TO WIN THE GAME… rcast55
Nice article yo.
Kobe is Hollywood because he’s not interested in Hollywood, and that’s why Hollywood is even more impressed with his high wire act.
It’s all genuine, never has his love for basketball ever been in question. We might debate a team vs I approach but even when ‘Kobe Trade Talks Mania’ was at its peak, most of his critics felt he wouldn’t play soft to force a trade, kobe can’t help going hard at basketball was the popular opinion, it’s in his DNA some would even add.
And you know what he’s is truly a Hollywood story and I think his harshest critics will be pleasantly and awkwardly surprised at how much they’ll want to cheer for him once he starts winning again. I believe this because at the end of the day i think most of us would rather see hard honest work rewarded.
Kobe is an immature, selfish, me-first person and always has been. When he says all he cares about is winning, he means personally, not as a team. Deep down, Kobe is just as happy winning the scoring title as an individual as he ever was winning a ring. With the scoring title Kobe doesn’t have to share the credit with anyone else - just the way he likes it. It’s not really hard to understand once you know who Kobe’s father was and what his attitude was like. This crabby apple has not fallen far from the tree at all.
Hey Laker Scoop, If all he cared about was winning the scoring title every year why would he want to be traded? Seem with the Lakers a scoring title is in the bag every year. Contradict yourself much?
kobe is kobe
While your close contact with Tex Winter always provides some nice insight into these situations, I’m not sure it will help too much. Kobe doesn’t seem to have the same respect for those who came before him as other star players have shown. I don’t see him listening to Tex, in my estimation its a miracle that he even listens to Phil!
Kobe is so darn talented that maybe it is to a fault - he thinks he is above the law, so to speak. I agree with Tex Winter that this Lakers team has an excellent chance to be competitive within a couple of years, more so than Chicago or some of these other teams Kobe wants to go to. I only see Kobe hurting himself if he goes to Chicago.
Is there no one… a mentor, a confidant, anyone who can talk to Kobe? Someone he will listen to? Someone who can talk some sense into him? While the media and the fans continue to look for countless solutions to this dilemma, maybe all we need is a powerful voice that can actually have an effect on Kobe. Vic The Brick isn’t cutting it, and it doesn’t seem like anyone else on this planet can convince #24 to grow up. What is your take on that Roland?
Somethings can’t be learned overnight. I really don’t believe that Bryant is a team first player. I think he’s a great individual talent ( Best scorer in the League) but outside of scoring I don’t see any encouragement from Bryant and to his teammates. Yeah the supporting cast isn’t the greatest but they can’t be too bad if they are still making the playoffs since Shaq left.
Hey Laker Scoop, what should we believe here: your opinion of Kobe Bryant, or the opposite one expressed in this article by one of his mentors and basketball gurus, Tex Winter? Hmm.. tough choice!
Great story, I like hearing actual reports about Kobe and the Lakers that come from somewhere real, not just speculation and gossip.
Michael B.,
Tex saw your post about acupuncture and plans to phone when he gets to L.A. this week. Thanks for the info.
Roland Lazenby
great stuff roland,
like tex, phil also admired kobe’s unwavering confidence, as he noted in his book “the last season” (media reports have mostly left out the compliments phil dished out to kobe in that now infamous book).
tex makes a great point about kobe and the triangle. as frustrated as kobe was/is, he would do well to remember his frustration during the 04-05 season when the lakers scrapped the triangle after phil left. from what i’ve read kobe tried to re-integrate some of tex’s teachings midway through that season, a testament to kobe’s respect for the system that helped generate 9 titles.
so something kobe may not be thinking about is: if he gets traded to chicago he would not be running the triangle under scott skiles… unless there is a coaching change and phil arrives next year (with tex?) for a chance to win ring #10 in the city that made him famous. unlikely, but then again the idea that phil would ever return to the lakers was pretty farfetched in the summer of 04.
a better, and more realistic, solution would be for kobe to stay and win in l.a. let’s hope bynum can make a big step up this year, and finally implement his version of kareem’s unblockable sky hook
to say kobe is singular best talent is redundant. people overlook his desire to win. in an article in slam magazine kobe talked about taking his younger brothers to a next level. yes he wasn’t happy with his smush like teammates getting injured left and right but now he’s back and he’s always competing. what more can you ask?