Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant are perhaps the greatest duo ever to play together. They won 3x championships back to back and formed the early dynasty of the Los Angeles Lakers. The mastermind behind their success was the genius of coaching legend Phil Jackson. Even though Jackson was known for his funky methods, Shaq’s recent story about him revealed his true nature as a coach.
On the latest episode of Shaquille O’Neal‘s ‘The Big Podcast with Shaq,’ The Big Diesel recounted an incredible story about Phil Jackson’s coaching tactics. Shaq revealed his first interaction with Jackson occurred after the Lakers had fired previous HC Kurt Rambis. Jackson had asked for Shaq to meet him at his home in Montana. Upon reaching there, however, O’Neal was met by a weird demand from his new coach.
He said, ‘Hey, I need you to move that log’ ‘cause he lived by a lake, and there was a big log coming up on the thing… ‘I need you to move that log to the island over there’… I did it, but when I tell you that water was cold as a motherf*cker… I had to get the log, swim, and push it to the other side. Took about two hours, then when I came back, he’s like, ‘All right, I’m ready to coach you.’
Shaquille O’Neal recounted
Phil was always testing me 😂
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— SHAQ (@SHAQ) November 19, 2024
Shaquille O’Neal knew exactly what his new coach had put him up to, as he revealed that his father would use similar tactics on him earlier in his life. He would eventually strip down to his undergarments to move the log across the freezing cold lake.
The incident set the standard for what Phil Jackson expected of his players – complete trust in their coach. The two would go on to dominate the league with the iconic early 2000s Lakers.
Despite disputes Shaquille O’Neal revealed reason for trusting Phil Jackson
Even though the Los Angeles Lakers under Phil Jackson were one of the most dominant teams of all time, it did not come without some feuds. The beef between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal was perhaps the defining story of the team. However, there were also tensions between Jackson and his star players. Even with those, Shaq recently revealed his reasons for trusting his coach.
TS – 25:46
The reason why I respected Phil so much was because I knew his system worked… Once we got it, and once Kobe (Bryant) figured out his spots, and I figured out my spots, we flourished.
Shaquille O’Neal revealed in a recent episode of his podcast
Shaq’s trust in his head coach certainly paid off. The Lakers went on to win three titles under Jackson, achieving the elusive three-peat mark, the third of Jackson’s legendary coaching career. Jackson eventually left the Lakers after the beef between Bryant and O’Neal reached a boiling point. However, he would return soon to win two more championships, finally ending his Lakers tenure in 2011.
