Phil Wouldn’t Do That to Kobe, Would He?

If I hadn’t seen Kobe Bryant fall to the floor in agony at the Milwaukee game, I’d swear that Phil Jackson “sabotaged” him by kicking him when no one was looking. If Kobe is now out for several games, Phil must be one happy man.

GLORIA MATHYS

Rancho Palos Verdes

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Overheard at a recent Laker team meeting . . .

Kobe: “This offense bores me. It does nothing to display my talent. I want to be like Mike and I can’t be like Mike the way we’re playing the game.”

Shaq: “If he gets to be Mike, I wanna be Wilt.”

Penberthy: “Can I be Steve Kerr?”

Jackson: “I thought that was the point all along, Mike.”

Fisher: “I want to be like Walt Frazier.”

Lue: “Hey, I picked Frazier.”

Jackson: “No, you should be Spud Webb.”

Lue: “Aw, I’m always Spud.”

Fisher: “OK, can I be like Drexler?”

Jackson: “You’re too short.”

George: “Has anyone picked Wes Unseld yet?”

Jackson: “Nah, he’s still available.”

George: “OK, I’ll be like Wes.”

Medvedenko: “I cellophane would like bathroom some Gatorade shoelaces. Chicken fried hair playing cards, Styrofoam?”

Jackson: “All right, anyone else? J.R.?”

Rider: “Here!”

Jackson: “No, J.R., I’m asking if there’s . . . aw, skip it.”

Skip the whole darn thing, in fact. Nobody on this team wants to win. Who cares who anyone wants to be, the way they’re playing this year, they’re the Cleveland Cavaliers.

JON CUTLER

Los Angeles

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If you just landed on earth today and someone gave you a videotape of last year’s Game 7 between the Lakers and Portland, tapes of the championship series, and press clippings of all quotes attributed to Kobe and Jackson, I absolutely guarantee this alien would bet his life that Jackson was the 20-year-old kid with the high school diploma and Kobe was the lauded roundball guru with wisdom, heart and respect for others.

JOHN COMES

San Clemente

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I’ve had about all I can take of the Zen disaster. Here’s a guy who has had the luxury of coaching four of the greatest players of all time and actually thinks the books he hands out have made the difference. This self-important, egomaniac portrays himself as an educated man of the world, yet seems to enjoy taking potshots at 22-year-old Kobe Bryant in particular.

For the first year, Phil Jackson had us all believing that his asinine comments in the press were actually motivating his players. Now one tired year later the truth is obvious: Phil is an overrated, poor evaluator of talent who underutilizes his greatest asset and justifies his own poor decisions and leadership by picking on the most exciting basketball player that L.A. has ever seen. How sad.

DENNIS WAUGH

Pasadena

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If Phil Jackson hadn’t crossed the line with his incessant Kobe bashing recently, surely he has now. To question the integrity of a 22-year-old kid with wild accusations of high school basketball point manipulation is not only ludicrous, but also brings into specific light the real problem with the Lakers. Phil Jackson isn’t the Zen guru we all thought, rather a petty, manipulative tyrant hellbent on destroying the best thing to happen to Los Angeles sports since Magic Johnson. The act has gotten old, the remarks have gotten mean and it’s time for Phil to go.

JOHNNY COMATOSS

La Mirada

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Why is Kobe still fighting about his role in the offense with his coach and teammates this late in the season? Then again, why is Kobe even playing the second game of a back-to-back, on the road, against a last-place team we should beat without him, when he’s badly injured and needs rest? Then again, why is Tyronn Lue playing in the fourth quarter when Fisher is back, and Shaw and Kobe are both there?

JESSE ENGDAHL

Los Angeles

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Kobe seems like an intelligent young man, but he just doesn’t get it when it comes to being a member of a team. First it was Shaq, who really does care about winning, complaining about Kobe’s selfish play. Now, it is Phil Jackson, certainly one of the most successful NBA coaches ever, along with Derek Fisher and Rick Fox, both team players willing to sacrifice, who are upset with his ball hogging and penchant for forcing shots. We have arrived at the point where the Lakers would be better off trading Kobe for a less spectacular and less costly player who would think less of himself and more of the team.

DAVE MARTZ

Torrance