On Thursday night in Los Angeles, the Lakers unveiled a statue of the late Kobe Bryant outside of Crypto.com Arena. Appropriately, the ceremony took place on 2/8/24, paying homage to the two numbers Kobe wore during his career (8 and 24) as well as the number worn (2) by his daughter Gianna, who along with Kobe was lost in a tragic helicopter accident in January 2020. The 19-foot-tall bronze statue depicts Bryant walking off the court following his 81-point barrage against the Toronto Raptors in 2006, and according to Vanessa Bryant, this moment was hand-picked by Kobe himself.

Right or wrong, Jalen Rose, who had a successful 13-year NBA career, has become a punchline when it comes to Kobe Bryant's 81-point game. Rose even filmed a skit with Kobe back in 2017 that poked fun about the fact that it was Rose who the primary defender on Bryant during his 81-point outburst against the Raptors. When it's Kobe, who Rose has since admitted that the Raptors should've either double or triple teamed during that 2006 game, or Jalen Rose himself that is making jokes about it, it's fair game. But when it's former Lakers coach Phil Jackson who takes a shot at Rose during the statue unveiling, that elicits a different, more defensive response.

For context, what Phil Jackson said during the ceremony was that during the 81-point game against the Raptors, the Lakers devised an offensive plan that would isolate Kobe with either a small forward, a power forward, or Jalen Rose defending him. The jab resulted in some laughs from the crowd in attendance. But Jalen Rose, who wasn't in attendance, wasn't laughing.

 

 

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This isn't the first time that Jalen Rose has been rubbed the wrong way by a comment made by Phil Jackson. Last year, during an appearance on Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton podcast, Phil Jackson stated that he hadn't watched the NBA since the Bubble, criticizing the league and its players for becoming too political for having Black Lives Matter on the floor and slogans such as “Justice,” “Peace,” “Vote,” and “Equality,” among others on the backs of players jerseys.

My wish is that we didn't need to deal with this Phil Jackson/Jalen Rose “feud” during a time when the focus is supposed to be on Kobe Bryant… a Lakers and NBA legend who was taken from us way too soon.