<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Winter is disappointed with, but not surprised by, the fall of the Lakers this season. ?Phil committed to Shaq, understandably, over Kobe, and that was one of the real problems Kobe had a hard time dealing with,? Winter says. ?He wants to be considered the best player ever to play the game. I don?t think it?s going to happen, but that?s his motivation. He needs to grow up. He needs to understand there are an awful lot of good players out there, and he?s one of them, but not the one, necessarily.? Interim Laker coach Frank Hamblen asked Winter to return as a consultant this season, but Winter declined. ?I miss (coaching in the NBA) in a lot of ways, but a lot of it I don?t miss,? he says. ?Dealing with those egos ? but as an assistant, you try to ride the fence and keep an even keel. It?s up to the head coach to screw things up.? Winter, active and seemingly much younger than his age, keeps busy. He watches basketball nightly on the NBA League Pass subscriber package, spends time on the computer with his investment portfolio and with Nancy at home. He is working on two books ? an autobiography and a revision of his 1961 instructional on the triangle offense. After that, he surely will find something more to add to his r?sum?. Maybe the Hall of Fame will help out in that regard.</div> Source
If there's someone out there that understands Kobe, its Tex. He tells it how it is, not blinded by awe or hate of Kobe. I remember he was asked to describe Kobe in a sentence and he said, "Extremely smart & gifted player, but very impulsive." Sad to hear that he declined the consultation offer. Maybe if (big if) PJ comes back, Tex might be willing to help out.
People actully give Phil the credit for the triangle, when it was actully Tex who instilled it in the past. Tex is a mans man and tells it like it is, no sugar coating....LA has needed that for the longest time, tex just was not in a position to really voice it.