Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers coach has new book....

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I read the excerpt on cnn.com. It's interesting, but it makes me think that Phil Jackson is a dick and is not at all the "Zen master" he's often portrayed as. Why did he write a book that discusses private, personal matters? Granted, Phil Jackson, Shaq, and Kobe are public figures, but in the excerpt Jackson said he tried to get the two to refrain from talking about the conflicts with journalists. He said they needed to suppress the conflict, so it's hypocritical for him to publish a book on the matter.

It seems to me that he's as upset as he said Shaq was about Kobe's "do no wrong" persona, and he's mad that the Lakers seemed to have sided with Kobe instead of Jackson and Shaq. Most of the excerpt is consumed by narratives intending to show how petty Shaq and Kobe were, but he's being as bad as anyone else involved.

I wish I could remember who said it, possibly Scottie Pippen, but I know I've heard in the past that Jackson can be mean and vindictive. His new book appears to support that.

Obviously I can't speak about the book as a whole, but the excerpt appears to be little more than an attempt to make Kobe look worse than he already does. Maybe Jackson finds such a tell-all tale to be therapeutic, but I can't help thinking that he's mean, and mostly interested in money and his own precious reputation. If I were a player I wouldn't want the guy as my coach, no matter how many championships he's won. He's made it clear that he can't be trusted. No wonder Kobe never confided in him.