Lakers News: Phil Jackson Supplies Touching Tribute At Kobe Bryant Statue Ceremony

The Zen Master weighs in.

Among the former Los Angeles Lakers personnel on hand for the unveiling of the late Kobe Bryant's first of three planned bronze statues was his former championship coach, Phil Jackson. 

The Zen Master numbered among six speakers who paid tribute to the Hall of Fame shooting guard during a special Thursday afternoon reveal ceremony.

We'll get more granular later this week, but for now, here's the full 11-minute speech, supplied by the greatest coach in hoops history:

FULL SPEECH: Phil Jackson speaks at the Kobe Bryant statue unveiling pic.twitter.com/F9LEftuNh1

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 9, 2024

After years of the statue being in the works, the likeness was finally unveiled on 2/8/24, with the date being a tribute to both Bryant, and his daughter Gianna's jersey numbers. Kobe wore No. 8 and No. 24, while Gianna wore No. 2. 

Jackson played an instrumental part of Bryant's career, having coached the superstar for the bulk of his career from 1999-2011. During this span, Jackson and Bryant won five NBA championships together, with three consecutive trophies coming in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and another pair in 2009 and 2010.

During this time, Jackson also helped mold Bryant into one of the most dominant players in the NBA. While Bryant had already been in the NBA for three years when Jackson took over as head coach, he led the Bryant and the Lakers to a championship in just his second year with the team.

While he was coached by Jackson, Bryant achieved the bulk of his career awards and accomplishments. Bryant was the NBA's scoring champion twice in 2006 and 2007, the league MVP in 2008, a two-time finals MVP in 2009 and 2010, and earned all nine of his All-NBA Defensive First Team honors under Jackson's coaching.

All in all, Jackson was a crucial part of all Kobe accomplished and did for the Lakers, and now, gets to see the statue in Bryant's honor.