WEBVTT - The Lake Show 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:06.480 September twentieth, nineteen seventy three, twenty nine year old Billy 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:13.040 gene Kinks steps onto the court at Houston's Astrodome. She 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:15.720 has been one of the world's best tennis players for 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:19.120 more than a decade. The year before, she became the 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:22.680 fifth woman in history to win a career Grand Slam. 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:25.800 It's a fact, isn't it that if they were both males, 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:27.639 Billy Jean ding, We're a male. 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.400 She actually excels over Rigs in such manners. 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.479 Per opponent in the Battle of the Sexist is fifty 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:39.240 five year old Bobby Riggs, who in nineteen thirty nine, 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:42.560 four years before Billy Jean was born, was the number 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.320 one player in the world. Now he's working as a 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:50.080 tennis promoter and making headlines for calling the women's game inferior. 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.440 His latest claim is that he could be any woman 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:54.080 in the world. 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:56.280 This is the scene in the Astrodome. 0:00:56.320 --> 0:00:57.800 I'm down to the floor of the Astrodome with a 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.720 couple of great champions who are here to to happening. 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.360 The lead up to the match is a spectacle. King 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:08.800 enters the court Cleopatra style, carried by four shirtless men. 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:13.480 She gives Riggs a piglet to symbolize as male chauvinism. 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:18.680 Ninety million people are watching from home, including Los Angeles 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.640 businessman Jerry Buss and his eleven year old daughter, Jeanie. 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:27.760 As history has documented, Billy Jean dominated the match and 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:32.640 became an enduring force for equality. A year later, founding 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:37.959 World Team Tennis, a freewheeling mixed gender league that featured 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.080 some of the greatest players in the world. 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:50.600 Zins God's Tide her Ring another golden momment from Wimbledy. 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:58.880 World Team Tennis was all about in arena entertainment, and 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:02.680 doctor Jerry Bus, who was itching to buy a professional 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.880 sports team, became one of the league's first owners, of 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:12.320 the La Strings in nineteen seventy four. Bus was a 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:16.679 chemist with a seriously lucrative real estate business, best known, 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.400 of course, for later buying the Lakers. 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:23.720 The World Trophy to the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:27.239 the new World Champions of Basketball, and I'm proud to 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:27.480 do it. 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:29.680 And here you go, Jerry Buss, it's yours. 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:35.200 That didn't happen for another five years. Meanwhile, doctor Buss 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:38.880 was determined to bring his daughter into the male dominated 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:43.040 world of sports business. He brought Genie to team meetings 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:46.680 and when she was nineteen and a student at USC 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.920 BUS made her general manager of the La Strings. 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:55.560 When he offered me the job, I was still in school. 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.280 I said this great, I can quit school and just 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:02.560 focus on my job, and he was, you know, very much, 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:04.959 you could have the job as long as you go 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.480 to school. So that made it difficult because I was 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:13.720 balancing schoolwork and my social life and trying to run 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.120 a tennis team. You know, he saw something in me 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:21.200 that I had the ambition to do that, in the discipline, 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.720 to be able to schedule and do things so that 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:28.160 I could accomplish, you know, meet the requirements of my. 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.120 Job and World Team Centis was so crazy. That was 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:37.040 like a really fun, relegably great idea. Do you remember 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.120 like an early accomplishment that you had, whether it was 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.040 a player or promotion or anything like that where you 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.040 just felt like I did a really good job that 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:45.960 worked out really well. 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:52.480 You know, we were really fortunate that Martina Navrachulova was 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:57.120 available to play, and so she was, you know, the 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:02.520 first player I drafted the LA Strings, and you know 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:05.480 she was it was as she was making her way 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:07.920 up to being the number one player in the world. 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.720 We'll see Martinez looking for this forehand to come up 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:14.160 the line. 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.640 Now, watch if she comes to the SA. 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:19.600 And she loved World Team Tennis and she loved the 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:23.680 camaraderie of being with a team. So I think that 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:28.520 was really something special, was having that opportunity to really 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.320 get to know a superstar on their ascent. And we 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:34.840 won a championship that year. 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:41.320 The Bus family was all about championships. That became the 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:45.760 family business. In nineteen seventy nine, doctor Buss purchased the 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:50.159 Los Angeles Lakers, the La Kings, the Great Western Forum, 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.559 and a thirteen hundred acre ranch from Jack Ted Cook. 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:58.680 The total sixty seven and a half million dollars. Jeannie 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.640 was named president of the Great Western Forum. 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.440 You know, it was such a great experience for me 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:10.400 because I had always been the promoter of events. So 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:15.479 promoters the one that puts together the event, the activity, 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:19.360 the show, and they put it into your venue. Now, 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:24.000 as the head of the arena, I got a different 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:28.120 view of what it was like for a promoter to 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.280 come into a venue and what a venue needed in 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:35.320 order to support the show or the event. 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:42.480 Doctor Buss transformed the Lakers into showtime entertainment worthy of 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:51.919 Tinseltown THEA From nineteen eighty to eighty nine, the Lakers 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:56.240 won five titles in eight trips to the NBA Finals, 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:02.800 establishing expectations that still exist and which Genie inherited when 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:04.000 she took over the team. 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.360 Well, you know, you just look at timing, you know, 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:12.960 and some things are just luck. My dad drafting Magic Johnson, 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:17.960 somebody that could, you know, light the show on fire 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:19.120 with his smile. 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:23.200 This man has a smile that lights up a television 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.720 screen from here, the bangor Maid. 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:30.760 He was just one of those great personalities and great 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:34.880 basketball players. So, you know, winning the championship. But I 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:40.040 also like to underline the fact that during the eighties, 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:45.600 we you know, we had the Rams and the Raiders 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:50.360 here in Los Angeles, and eventually both teams moved out. 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.640 So there was a twenty year period where in a 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:59.000 major league city, we had no NFL to compete with, 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:04.560 and that further cemented the Lakers just being a team 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:09.080 from Los Angeles representing Los Angeles the Magic Man. 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:13.200 What's more, the showtime Lakers, as you said, really put 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.520 you guys on the map and made Los Angeles a 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:21.360 championship city. What sort of pressure was there to maintain 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.360 or get back to that standard when you took over 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:25.960 the Lakers. 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.680 Well, you know, there's there's the standard, and then there's 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.360 the Purple and Gold standard, and you know that's you know, 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:38.400 it's hard to compete with your past success. Our fans 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.040 expect nothing but the best, and that's what makes them 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.280 the best fans in the NBA. So there's a lot 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.560 of pressure to win in Los Angeles. You know, by design, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:55.800 the NBA has, you know, through a salarycap system, a 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:59.880 revenue sharing system. You know, they're trying to even play 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:04.400 field and create more parody. It's just that much harder 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.480 for any one team to dominate. 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:07.000 You know. 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:10.560 It's a different environment than you know, when my dad 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.520 started in the eighties, when there was no salary cap. 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.800 Every time Larry Bird got a new contract, my dad 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.080 would call Magic and rip up the old one and 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:23.360 give him a new one. You know, stuff like that. 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:24.520 I love it. 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.120 My dad always wanted Magic to be the highest paid player, 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.440 and you could do that because there weren't the same 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:32.800 rules that are in place now. 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.040 But a decade of dominance in the eighties was followed 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.760 by a decade of disappointment in the nineties, the Lakers 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:48.000 were in rebuild mode. They built a solid cast Eddie Jones, 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:53.199 Robert Ory, Glenn, Rice, Rick Fox, Derek Fisher, and as 0:08:53.280 --> 0:09:00.920 for the stars LA had come to expect. Twenty four 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:04.559 year old Chiquill O'Neal was acquired from the Orlando Magic 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:12.600 in nineteen ninety six. Second and nineteen year old Kobe 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.560 Bryant came into the NBA that same year, straight out 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:17.240 of high school. 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:22.199 The Charlotte Hornets select Kobe Bryant from Lower Merion High 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:23.000 School in. 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:26.440 Pennsylvan acquired by the Lakers in a draft day trade 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:29.240 with the Charlotte Hornets. It is a step off from 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:30.480 high school, and I understand that. 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:32.559 So therefore, every time I step on a basketball court, 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:34.000 I'm going to put a strong effort out there on 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:34.439 the floor. 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:36.560 I'm not going to leave anything on the floor. 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.800 But the Shack and Kobe show was not an immediate 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:41.720 Hollywood hit. 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:43.240 I'm not going to say that. 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:46.440 These Spurns has a better individual talent than the Lakers, 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:49.120 but I am going to say they have. 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:49.800 A better team. 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:53.520 A four game suite by the Utah Jazz in the 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:57.720 nineteen ninety eight Western Conference Finals exposed the Lakers team 0:09:58.040 --> 0:09:59.640 that had a lot of growing to do. 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:05.720 Total domination by the experienced Utah Jazz against the youthful Talada. 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:10.040 Los Angeles Lakers, and so in nineteen ninety nine, Doctor 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.440 Buss looked to the most successful coach of the era 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:15.600 to bring it all together. 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.440 Without feather Ado, the new coach at the Los Angeles Lakers, 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:19.120 Phil Jackson. 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:29.959 From the NBA and iHeart podcast This is NBA DNA 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:45.360 with Me Hannah Storm, Episode nine, The Lake Show, January thirteenth, 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:51.600 nineteen ninety nine, Chicago, Illinois, Credentialed members of the media 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.400 assemble on the floor of the United Center for a 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:56.360 press conference with Michael Jordan. 0:10:57.120 --> 0:10:59.080 For the second time in little more than five years. 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:01.760 Michael Jordan is choosing to walk away from the NBA. 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.600 Now it looks like he's gonna be walking away for good. 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.600 Only six months earlier, Jordan led the Bulls to their 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.920 six NBA championship under head coach Phil Jackson. 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.240 My Everybody, Hannah Store back here in Chicago. In the 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.520 past decade, the Chicago Bulls have forged one of sports 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:22.240 from great dynasties. Five NBA titles in the last seven 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:25.920 years and now just one went away from a six championship. 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:29.719 Mj had won the league MVP and Defensive Player of 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:33.920 the Year, famously ending his Bulls career with the last 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:37.480 second dagger to sink the Utah Jazz for a six 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:39.640 rings and second three people. 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:43.960 In ship number six Michael against Russell twelve seconds eleven 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.959 ten Jordan a dry. 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:51.240 Hain't fire y hey scars. 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:55.000 Football's late eighty seven eighty six work five at two 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:56.959 tats lap oh. 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.720 Why it was the end of an era. That same 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:03.599 month that Jordan retired, the Bulls traded Scottie Pippen. The 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.760 preeminent dynasty of the nineties was over. Did Michael Jordan 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:09.319 know that you had no intention of attorney? 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.640 Yeah, Yeah, he pretty much knew it. You know, we 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:17.719 talked tremendous amount of time throughout the season, and we 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:22.000 sort of had that vibe, the feeling after the season 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.200 that you know, it was pretty much our last time together. 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:28.560 Phil Jackson had been the first Domino general manager. Jerry 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:32.319 Krause made it clear that Jackson's contract would not be renewed, 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:37.199 and after the finals, he left the franchise, literally riding 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:39.599 off into the sunset on his motorcycle. 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:47.720 Hebe on the moat loud Girl now Hobby Bryant working 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:48.240 in the light. 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:54.520 And meanwhile, the Lakers had one of the most promising 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:59.360 tandems in the NBA, Shaquille O'Neill and Kobe Bryant, but 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:02.120 they have been swept out of the playoffs for two 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:09.400 years in a row. Doctor Buss bequeathed the running of 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:13.040 the franchise to his daughter, Jeanie. Can you paint the 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.760 picture of when you were promoted to executive vice president 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:20.599 in nineteen ninety nine, what the state of the franchise was, 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:23.679 you know, what you were stepping into and taking over. 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:28.160 You know, Shaq Shaquille O'Neill had joined the Lakers as 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:32.640 a free agent in ninety six. Kobe Bryant was drafted 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:36.599 by Jerry West in nineteen ninety six. You know, we 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.719 had a couple of years with these two very well 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:45.800 established shack and this young rookie who won the Slam 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:50.559 Dunk contest his rookie year, and my dad, you know, 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:55.160 was getting frustrated. He wanted to win, and he decided 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:57.520 to make a change and bring in a new coach. 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:02.400 And the coach that he hired was Phil Jackson. And 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.840 my reaction was, are you sure that's a good idea 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.679 given the fact he's kind of a big personality. You've 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:14.120 already got a really big personality in Shack, a really 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:18.199 big personality in Kobe. And he said, you know, he's 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.800 got an offensive system that I really want the Lakers 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:26.440 to run. And that was the Triangle and Phil Jackson 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:29.040 took the job, and of course I was wrong. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.040 It was a high stakes time for the Lakers. New coach, 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:38.120 new system, new season, new venue. That same year that 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:41.160 Phil started with the Lakers, they moved from the Great 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.720 Western Forum to the Staples Center in downtown La. 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.480 Our fans did not We're not excited about it at all. 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.120 They'd been used to going to Inglewood for you know, 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.680 forty years to see their team, and there was a 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:58.880 lot of people stressed out. And you know, I remember 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:04.000 getting phone calls from fans saying, I want the same 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:06.600 seat that I have at the Forum, and I said, well, 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:09.280 you can have your seat that's at the Forum, but 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:13.960 the Lakers aren't going to be there down to see them. 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:18.800 And you know, the best thing that happened was we 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:23.120 won a championship that first year. Because people were concerned, like, 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.560 are we giving away our mojo or advantage everything that 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.400 the forum meant to our history. 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:38.200 The jess Rose and Miller even whydn't look well, we 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:39.920 don't run around on the defense too much. 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.480 BUS made Jackson one of the highest paid coaches in 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:47.560 the league, thirty million over five years, and he brought 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:53.280 his zim master holistic approach to LA from burning sage 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.040 in the locker room to giving his players summer reading assignments. 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:02.680 I thought he was a hippie dude. I mean I 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:05.920 didn't know, like you know, it was he married, Did 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:08.320 he have a family. I had no idea. I really 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:13.440 didn't pay that much attention except I remembered when he 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:17.400 left the Bulls, which was, you know, now we've we've 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:22.240 watched we've all watched the Last Dance documentary, which then 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:26.800 kind of tells that whole story of the Bulls had 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:31.080 decided Phil, this is your last year. You're not coming back. 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.920 And so when that season was over and they win 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:38.480 the championship and he's lighting the cigar like he always did, 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:44.320 they showed him riding a motorcycle from the practice facility 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.880 like he was going off into the sunset like, Oh 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:53.960 my gosh, he's just such drama, you know, And I'm like, oh, 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.040 is this really going to play here in la And 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.280 were used to like Pat Riley and you know, and 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:04.200 Phil's more of a like, you know, free spirit, and 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.960 Pat was like Armani suits, so oh yeah, very buttoned off, 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:13.720 very slick, very like contained, totally different, very different. So 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:17.600 I mean, I'm glad my dad didn't listen to me. 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:22.520 Why do you think that, looking back, that Phil Jackson 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:26.240 was the right person to bring, as you said, these 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.560 really big personalities together and mold them into a unit. 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:31.840 Why do you think that was so successful as you 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:32.359 look back. 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:36.400 On it, You know, it was really about getting them 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:40.119 on the same page. Shack wanted to win. He was 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:44.000 tired of being labeled the superstar who couldn't push the 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:48.680 team over the edge to win the championship. And then 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:52.080 you had Kobe, who was a student of the game, 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:56.440 and you know, here was this opportunity because he had 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:01.560 studied Michael Jordan so much. Here now to have the 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:07.480 same teachers as someone he idolized so much kind of unlocked, 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:13.119 you know, so much potential in his brain. And you know, 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:16.080 Phil was the eager teacher the first time you met 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:19.200 my dad. He asked, my dad, you know, why do 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.159 you want me to come coach your team? And my 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:24.320 dad said, well, I'm giving you a five year deal, 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:27.760 and I expect you to win a championship. I'm tired 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.879 of losing. And Phil was, you know, why wouldn't you 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:35.560 want me to win five? You know that's the way. Thanks. 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:42.040 In his first Lakers press conference, Phil promised to help 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:46.680 Shack move into a leadership role, and he called Kobe Jordanes. 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:51.840 Balancing the two personalities would become essential to the team's success, 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:56.480 and Jeanie leaned on her experience from her earliest days 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:57.920 as a sports executive. 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:02.800 Luckily, you know, in my earlier career, I you know, 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.480 not only had promoted World Team tennis the LA Strings, 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:13.440 but also promoted championship type matches in exhibitions. So you know, 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:20.199 we would have Yvonne Lendall play Andre Agascy, Jimmy Connors, 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:25.400 John McEnroe. And the most difficult match that we ever 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:30.639 had to make was Jimmy Connors versus John McEnroe because 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.959 they never wanted to have to play each other. They 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:39.920 did not vibe. Okay, it was like having to convince 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:45.280 each one of them that they were my favorite. Jimmy, 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:48.920 you're my favorite, you know, like we got to bring 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:51.880 John in and then John, I know how you feel 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.399 about Jimmy, but like, you know, and it was just 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.000 really because you know, when they had to play each 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:01.040 other in a tournament, they didn't want either one of 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.919 them to have the edge over the other. So whoever 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:09.080 won this exhibition might mentally it may carry over into 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:14.080 the US Open finals. And so now you fast forward 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:19.480 to Shaquille O'Neill and Kobe Bryant. I loved both of them, 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:25.240 but you know, they were competitive for attention. Whose team 0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:29.080 is this? And so you know, just walking that fine 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:35.639 line of you're my favorite, no, you're and you know, 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:41.840 really the main thing was there was room enough for both. 0:20:44.800 --> 0:20:47.280 On the court. It was critical for Jackson to get 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:51.040 buy in for his triangle offense, but Kobe thought it 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:52.480 was limiting for his game. 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:55.960 There were some personal goals that were standing in front 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:58.879 of the group goals, and that all had to be 0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:03.320 kind of figured out. It was a situation which you know, 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:05.520 I was asking them to kind of fit into roles 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:09.840 and demanded the team to play more unselfish basketball. 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:14.360 Phil brought in someone familiar with the triangle, a guy 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:17.320 who had played for him in Chicago, John Sally. 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:19.960 I thought, in order to work in California, you have 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:23.399 to play for the Lakers. So one day was watching. 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:25.760 It was nineteen ninety nine. I never forget it was 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:32.119 the shortened season. I was watching the Lakers and they 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:33.960 were losing. I think they lost in the first round 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:36.000 of the playoffs. And they had Shaq and Kobe and 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:39.800 JL Reed and Dennis Rodman and all these people, and 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:43.880 something made me pick up the phone and call Phil Jackson, 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:46.120 and he goes, what's up long to all of them, 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:48.440 and I said, you're not going to let these guys 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:50.879 not win a championship party. I said, come on, I 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.520 left five doors from Shack. I know Kobe, we can talk. 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:58.080 They need the system. People don't realize it's the system. 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:00.800 So when I got on the Laker I was a 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:04.080 glorified coach in the player's uniform. 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:08.240 Here's Robert or on the change with Jackson at the helm. 0:22:08.720 --> 0:22:11.359 When he came to the Lakers. What did he bring 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:14.200 to that equation? Like, how did he make it all work? 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:19.000 Stability? You know, here's the thing. Stability and direction. We 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:22.919 had four All Stars the previous year, Eddie Jones, Kobe, 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:26.879 Shaq Nick four All Stars getting swept by Utah. So 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:30.160 you have to think about the stabilion. And also when 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:32.920 you bring in someone like a Phil Jackson, who's coach 0:22:33.040 --> 0:22:36.280 the greatest, and Michael Jordan, you're gonna bring in that discipline. 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:39.720 You know, Shaq was very disciplined that summer. I even 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:42.399 put on like five pounds ten pounds a muscle going 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:46.040 into that season. Kobe came in like bigger. We all 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:49.280 came in physically ready to start that training camp because 0:22:49.640 --> 0:22:51.560 you know what to expect when you've been under the 0:22:51.600 --> 0:22:53.240 coach for two or three years, you know how to train. 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:56.320 We had no idea what fields training camps were. 0:22:56.240 --> 0:22:56.520 Going to be. 0:22:57.000 --> 0:22:58.800 We were going to run a lot, we were going 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:01.000 to run the triangle each and every day until we 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:04.320 got it. So everybody came in shape and and ready. 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:06.680 And I think that was the biggest key, because Shaq 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:09.560 started a season off just so dominant, you know, because 0:23:09.640 --> 0:23:10.040 first no. 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.960 Kobe got Hurt's right. We just rove Shack's coattails to 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:15.720 the best record in the NBA that year. 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:23.800 Fox Waits'neil's a paint jumps, ry stars and pay beautiful 0:23:23.880 --> 0:23:26.160 deliberty by Shaquillo mew. 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:29.440 In nineteen ninety nine, Phil's first year with the Lakers, 0:23:29.640 --> 0:23:34.000 they went sixty seven and fifteen, and Shaq became the 0:23:34.280 --> 0:23:35.840 NBA MVP. 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:40.520 Number one in scoring, number two and rebounds number three, 0:23:40.600 --> 0:23:44.840 in block shots four as since the game almost and 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:47.800 only three people played more minutes as you were leading 0:23:47.880 --> 0:23:50.160 your team to sixty seven victoriation. 0:23:50.640 --> 0:23:55.639 It's a pleasure to watch you grow. Congratulations, nineteen ninety nine, two. 0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:59.560 Thousand, NBA MVP, Shaquille. 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:01.560 It was fun. 0:24:02.440 --> 0:24:05.600 And you've never played with a dominant big man. You 0:24:05.680 --> 0:24:07.920 don't understand how fun it is. Just look at the 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:10.800 Denver Nuggets. They know how fun it is. And it's 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:13.560 so fun to play with a dominant big man who 0:24:13.600 --> 0:24:17.240 demands a double team, who can pass, and who allows 0:24:17.320 --> 0:24:20.840 you to press up defensively on the perimeter and funnel 0:24:20.880 --> 0:24:26.360 guys him so he can block shot. But you think 0:24:26.400 --> 0:24:30.840 about what Shaq demanded when he was playing double teams. 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:34.160 Hack of Shock. It was so much fun playing with Shaq. 0:24:37.440 --> 0:24:43.240 A perfect ash from Toby Bryant, great execution by Shock. 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:47.720 Young Kobe began to blossom under Jackson averaging twenty nine 0:24:47.800 --> 0:24:51.080 points and five assists of games, and he was named 0:24:51.119 --> 0:25:01.119 to the NBA's All Defensive Second Team. Here's Phil reflecting 0:25:01.280 --> 0:25:04.120 on that first year, courtesy of ESPN. 0:25:04.680 --> 0:25:07.000 Tolb me a nice struggle a lot the first year. 0:25:08.000 --> 0:25:11.639 It was I will tell you, like looking at Michael 0:25:11.720 --> 0:25:14.960 Jordan and come fly with me or whatever that video was. 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:20.159 He had everything all in markings. The way he posed, 0:25:20.200 --> 0:25:23.680 the way he held himself, it was almost amazing. And 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:26.200 there were times I would pull him to the sideline 0:25:26.240 --> 0:25:29.320 and say, don't try to take over this game. It's 0:25:29.400 --> 0:25:33.200 not time. Don't try to take over this game. But 0:25:33.320 --> 0:25:36.320 he was dying to do so, and he was ready 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:36.720 to do so. 0:25:41.080 --> 0:25:47.280