[dramatic music]
[helicopter blades whirring]
REPORTER: That's right, Fred.
They're rocking and rolling outside Staples Center.
This is the biggest commotion we've had
in downtown Los Angeles since, uh--
well, frankly, I can't remember the last time
we had this much commotion in downtown Los Angeles.
After the game was over, the fans from inside
came pouring out here.
It's a sea of purple and gold.
REPORTER: It's been a dozen years
since we've been the NBA champs,
and of course, this is a city and a team
that wanted it badly.
REPORTER: Let's hope, with the new millennium,
this'll be the first of many.
- Everybody is so excited over this Laker victory.
And they have been this way since the day began.
- We have our own Kobe Bryant
of the next generation here.
They sure love their Lakers.
JOHNNY: When we won the championship, it was great.
I was cheering them on, and it was like,
"Oh, I'm gonna go down and," you know, "celebrate now."
[crowd cheering]
And once I got to courtside,
one of the NBA people stopped me and said,
"Well, you can't come in with that pass,"
and it was like, "Uh, well, I'm Johnny Buss."
And he said, "I don't care who you are.
You can't come this far."
- Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
Back this up. Back this up.
- Here's Jimmy, Jeanie, Janie, Joey, Jesse.
There's my dad, you know?
- It's Magic and I, the owners, that deserve the credit.
[laughter]
JOHNNY: To reference The Godfather, I felt
more kicked out of the family than kicked out of the Lakers.
JIMMY: Staples Center was a professional corporation.
They probably didn't recognize John.
I think it's an overreaction, big time.
You get tired of saying, "Well, it's just John's way."
Be part of the team or not.
- At that point, there were a lot of things
that were difficult for my brothers.
BOB: Well, Fred, it is getting a little bit busy out here,
as they--of course, they predicted it would be.
JEANIE: Everything's changing.
Everything is gonna be different.
We had won a championship in this new arena.
Like, this was-- this was the new era.
REPORTER: Uh, well, there we have a problem.
- But there's never enough success to go around.
[sirens wailing]
[people shouting]
ROGER TROUTMAN: ♪ California love, yeah ♪
♪ California knows how to party ♪
["California Love"]
♪ California knows how to party ♪
ANNOUNCER: There he is, his first shot as an owner.
Think he likes it?
ROGER: ♪ California ♪
- At this moment, I can't believe it.
ROGER: ♪ California ♪
INTERVIEWER: What's the future?
Want to replace your father at the top?
- Yeah. [laughs]
ROGER: ♪ In the city... ♪
BUSS: Between my daughters and my sons,
there's certainly enough sports teams to go around.
♪ ♪
ROGER: ♪ The city ♪
INTERVIEWER: Are you and the rest of the family--
are you guys all on the same page?
♪ ♪
REPORTER: The Lakers caught in the middle
of a family power struggle.
ROGER: ♪ Compton, Compton, Compton ♪
BUSS: I think I've really left them with something.
INTERVIEWER: Magic Johnson, love that smile.
It's great to be sitting across from you, Magic.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- And more to smile about in 2000 than in a dozen years.
- I wanted them to win so bad, especially for Shaq,
and then for him and Kobe to come together finally
as teammates,
it was a beautiful thing to watch.
We felt we had the talent all those years
to really win a championship,
and then not to be able to do that,
that didn't set well with me or Dr. Buss and Jerry West.
INTERVIEWER: You know, I've had Jerry on the show,
and here's a guy who's--
he wants the title more than anything.
He's so shrewd in talent evaluation.
There's a lot of word that any minute now, he could say,
"I've had it. The pressure's too much."
Do you think he'll stay?
- I really think this time,
he's really serious about retiring.
[chatter]
WEST: The franchise was taking off
and doing incredible things,
but it was getting difficult for me, okay?
Very difficult.
These jobs take an enormous toll.
Every day, if you win, you're up here.
If you lose, you're down here. And that's the problem.
I just hated the, uh--the wear and tear on you emotionally.
That's the pr--the problem.
- He was talking about his heart
and the issues he had,
the anxiety he was feeling at the time.
He could hardly watch games anymore.
INTERVIEWER: Jerry, do you think
you put too much pressure on yourself?
- Well, that's the way I am.
It's exactly the way I am.
BRIAN: It felt like it just came out of nowhere,
but, you know, you got the feeling inside
like there was something personal
between the two of them, you know, Phil and Jerry.
KURT: Well, a lot of things had changed.
Phil was now the face of the franchise
from a front-office standpoint, and Jerry's
kind of getting pushed to the back.
- I guess I could feel that he wasn't, you know,
all that excited about Phil.
- You know, people think I don't like Phil Jackson.
That's not the truth at all.
Great respect for him,
but he and I are two different people.
- From my standpoint, you know, Jerry and I had
a very workable relationship.
BUSS: Well, it's funny, you know?
You--if you know Phil, you're gonna like him,
and if you know Jerry, you like him,
but, uh, between the two, they had big conflicts.
- They seemed to clash pretty much at the beginning.
When he talked to Phil, it would be
crossed arms or whatever.
Whatever the body language was, you could tell
it was something going on.
MITCH: We were in the locker room after every game,
and then the first game at Staples--
Staples had just opened--
we walk in,
and Phil just stops
and, in so many words,
tells Jerry to get out of the locker room.
- Said, "Get the fuck out my locker room"
in front of the whole team.
My eyes got big like they are now.
PHIL: I know Jerry took a little offense to it,
but there is a whole host of things
that might've been affecting Jerry at that time
that I have no relationship to.
- It got to the point where he basically didn't
hardly talk to me, which was fine.
Long as you're winning, that's fine with me.
But I knew-- I knew that I wasn't--
I was not gonna be there very much longer.
JOHNNY: My father said Jerry had come in
and wanted a piece of the team,
something that my dad couldn't--
couldn't give him, and so, uh, they had to part.
I think that was difficult for my dad, you know,
'cause, I mean, Jerry was one of his confidantes.
WEST: To be candid with you, I don't want
to be interviewed anymore.
I just want to disappear.
I didn't tell anyone.
I just left.
I took a newspaper ad, and I left town.
I went--I went up to Alaska fishing.
SHAQ: I read it in the paper.
I was very upset.
Jerry's my guy.
I'm only here 'cause of him.
I actually tried to stick up for him,
and he says, "Nope, stand down, big fella.
Let me handle it."
- I knew that it was gonna be a loss for the team,
but, you know, Mitch and I knew each other for years.
REPORTER: Patience and perseverance
paid off for you personally,
getting what you consider the best job in sports?
- Well, it is the jewel, in my opinion,
certainly in the NBA, perhaps in all of sports.
- He had my vote, big time, because I saw
how much he put into it, and my dad loved the guy.
- I remember Shaq and Kobe being pretty cruel to him
at the practice facility.
Mitch's office overlooked the court,
and Shaq and Kobe used to slam basketballs
up against Mitch's, uh, window while he was at the computer.
[ball slams]
He would jump, and they would just laugh.
And then, you know, like, the respect level
between what was shown to Jerry West
and what was shown to Mitch at the very beginning
was very, very different.
- I don't--I don't--I don't--
I don't want to talk about Mitch.
I'm a Jerry West guy.
- Even with all of the distractions and the chaos,
what goes on on the court,
that's the most important thing.
CHICK HEARN: Thank you very, very much,
ladies and gentlemen.
In June, the Lakers won the championship, huh?
[crowd cheering]
And all it does is add up
to the seventh world championship
of the Los Angeles Lakers.
[crowd cheering]
JEANIE: Them winning that championship in 2000--
my dad was like, "Did Phil have to make it look so easy?"
[crowd cheering]
PHIL: I never thought about anything
but doing this job the best I could
and getting on the horse to get back after it
the next year, trying to do it again.
And to my players, if they stay on track,
we might win back-to-back.
[crowd cheering]
The real trick is winning two.
Coming back and winning another one the next year--
to do that is really special.
[dramatic music]
- At that point, we had swept everybody up
until the first game of the finals.
ANNOUNCER: It's Iverson.
- Iverson was criticized a lot
for trying to do everything by himself.
PHIL: Allen Iverson's really their prime mover.
His constant furious attack creates the energy
that this team thrives on.
ANNOUNCER: And steps over Tyronn Lue.
- The Sixers won game one, but ultimately,
the Lakers just were the better team that year.
- I could look at Shaq or Derek or Kobe across the floor,
and--and I was connected to them.
[crowd cheering]
[camera shutter clicking]
ANNOUNCER: Oh, man.
ANNOUNCER: Ah, he feels it-- beautiful touch.
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: They win tonight,
what a magnificent finish, uh, to this playoff run.
[buzzer sounds]
ANNOUNCER: For the Lakers, who finish
with a 15-and-1 run,
the best overtime...
ROBERT: You know, when you are able to do back-to-back,
that's when they say, "Oh, crap, y'all were good.
Y'all were a championship team."
REPORTER: Back-to-back!
- Back-to-back, just like this.
Back-to-back, baby.
[laughing]
REPORTER: Is this the beginning of a dynasty?
- It possibly can be.
REPORTER: Dr. Buss, that makes seven.
You gotta be proud of this Laker team.
- Yeah, I'm very proud of this team.
I don't think anybody expected
we could really defend the title.
It's the first time in a long time
it's ever been done.
Who knows? Maybe never again.
A piece of history right here.
[crowd cheering] KOBE: Yeah, get it.
We gonna get another one next year again,
back-to-back-to-back.
PHIL: And without getting too far ahead,
wouldn't it be sweet to three-peat?
[crowd cheering]
JIM: The way things work,
it's almost impossible to three-peat.
Once you price yourself out of a team,
it's hard to keep that team to win another championship.
Now a third one? Holy smokes.
This repeat was fantastic, but at the same time,
you're always looking at the next year.
["Where Everybody Knows Your Name" playing on phone]
SHAQ: Wave your hands in the air.
♪ Everything's a plan breaking up-- ♪
Oh, no, no, no.
♪ ♪
♪ Winning a--la la la ♪
♪ Winning a championship take everything you got ♪
♪ Sacramento, they thought it was their year ♪
♪ But I'm telling you it's not ♪
ANNOUNCER: It's the dream matchup.
The Sacramento Kings, the best record in the NBA,
against the two-time defending champion LA Lakers.
Western Conference Final, game one.
J.A.: The Lakers and the Kings had faced
each other in the playoffs for three straight years now.
The Lakers had won each one.
The Kings were the better team that season.
The teams had built up animosity,
mocked each other in the media.
- We're not worried about the Sacramento Queens,
not at all.
J.A.: I think of the movie Gladiator
when I think of that series.
It really was just this bloody, all-out battle.
SHAQ: For a player like me, every team always got up
for whatever team I was on anyway,
but this year, it's just like they have that little extra.
- Shaq was one of the toughest opponents
that I play against.
When he catch the ball in low post,
he can score anytime.
He's unstoppable.
But we were winning.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: We're down to seven seconds.
BUSS: When the ball went up,
and then I saw Vlade slap at it,
I thought for sure the game was over.
ANNOUNCER: Horry!
[wild cheering]
BUSS: I--I looked at Horry, and I couldn't believe
he was in the right position for that shot.
ICE CUBE: Being at that game, Robert Horry hitting that shot
was just electric, man, you know.
The whole building was shaking. It was crazy.
ROBERT: It felt great to tie that series up.
I was just thinking, like, "Yeah, how you like me now?"
That established me as Big Shot Rob.
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: This Western Conference Finals series
is even at three.
REPORTER: You win this, you're going to advance
to play for the third straight championship.
- This is the Lake Show you're playing--
me, Kobe...
ANNOUNCER: Bryant for 3. Yes!
- Bob, B Shaw, and Rick Fox.
- Ah, this motherfucker!
- I'm out there with some dogs.
ANNOUNCER: A free throw, but this time,
it's Shaquille O'Neal.
- Oh, we going to the Finals.
[buzzer sounds]
- Whoo!
KOBE: Now we're in the Finals.
We're gonna come out here, let it all hang out,
and see what happens.
REPORTER: Byron Scott, a mentor of yours.
What's it like to have him now on the other side?
- I used to tell him all the time
he was gonna be a great coach.
BYRON: I was coaching my first job with Jersey,
and I'm matching wits with
one of the greatest coaches of all time,
two of the best players of all time.
But we're playing against a team that was a monster,
and I think we all knew that.
50 CENT: ♪ You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub ♪
♪ Mama, I got what you need if you need to feel a buzz ♪
♪ I'm into having sex I ain't into making love ♪
♪ So come give me a hug if you're into getting rubbed ♪
♪ You can find me in the club... ♪
ANNOUNCER: Oh, here it is. O'Neal.
50 CENT: ♪ If you need to feel a buzz ♪
♪ I'm into having sex, I ain't into making love ♪
♪ So come give me a hug if you're into getting rubbed ♪
[laughs]
Don't try to act like you don't know who we be, either.
ANNOUNCER: Oh, the Lakers are really attacking the basket.
Beautiful.
50 CENT: Shady Aftermath.
- I knew we was gonna sweep these motherfuckers,
so I'm in New Jersey.
Game four, on the floor, me and Nate Dogg,
with my sparkles and my 8 jersey on.
We destined to win.
ANNOUNCER: What class.
The Los Angeles Lakers have made it
three straight NBA championships.
[gentle music]
PHIL: It's my experience that the third victory
in, uh, three successive years is always
the most unique and most difficult one
to fight your way through, and it certainly was this year.
- Winning championships are hard,
but to win three in a row,
that's some elite stuff right there.
♪ ♪
REPORTER: A three-peat, Dr. Buss.
I mean, this squad has now gone down in history.
It's etched its own name in the annals of history
as far as the NBA is concerned.
- Um, I guess there's only a few teams
that have ever done that,
uh, and suddenly, we're one of them.
I'm so proud of these guys, I can't even tell you.
The fans in LA--
I wish every one of them could be here at this moment.
- I'm outside the New Jersey Nets' locker room
with Byron Scott.
- Hopefully, next year, we'll be able
to play these guys again, and we'll see
if it's a different story.
See, I had those mixed emotions.
[laughs] 'Cause I was like, "Damn."
But I was also like, yes, it's my organization.
Feeling the satisfaction to watch this particular team
get back to the top again and do it,
you know, for three straight years,
something that we wanted to do,
something that we tried to do.
ROBERT: Magic and Kareem were able to win
back-to-back titles,
but yet they weren't able to three-peat.
- Once a dynasty expires, like we did,
it was just--how long was it going to take
for Jerry to build another dynasty?
And it wasn't until almost ten years.
Phil Jackson showed up, and they won three in a row.
♪ ♪
- Oh! [laughing]
PLAYERS: One, two, three! One, two, three!
PAT: But all things that are great
one day come to an end.
- Congratulations, the greatest.
- Congratulations, the most dominant.
- You need to take that jersey off
and put your own jersey on, player.
- About time now? - Yeah.
- Holla. Holla.
- This is what we work hard for right here tonight.
Right here.
ANNOUNCER: Time winding down.
[gentle music]
♪ ♪
JOHNNY: We were doing great ourselves, with the Sparks.
The crazy thing was--was because the Lakers did
the same thing the year before.
♪ ♪
It made me feel so proud.
You know, I didn't talk to my dad very often
at that period of time.
[phone ringing]
But he called me from Italy.
"Hey, Dad.
How did you know, you know, we just won?"
And it was, "Of course I know you won.
I'm very interested in this. This is incredible."
BUSS: I'm happy that John was able
to win championships on his own.
If your father's winning all these championships
and you're running a team,
people say, "Well, you weren't doing it
as well as your father,"
but if you win some championships,
then you get the same kind of applause.
MICHAEL: They stayed apart.
I never really seen them together much.
But Johnny and I talked about his father
being happy and pleased about the way
he's handling the team.
He says, "Coop, man, he's loving it."
- Jimmy was just--
I couldn't get a word in edgewise.
It was like, "Can you believe this?
Can you believe this?"
I think he was in Vegas when he called.
PRODUCER: Johnny said that the call from you
meant a lot to him.
JIM: I'm glad something meant something to him.
Maybe patch up the 2000 era.
Who knows what he was going through, you know,
personally, too?
JOHNNY: But, uh, it was just a fun moment
for the boys, I guess.
♪ ♪
LON: I was an agent
representing Michael Cooper at the time,
and Jeanie was a friend of mine.
And Johnny was running the Sparks.
The Sparks were doing pretty well.
He put together a strong franchise,
had good players.
Their attendance was pretty good.
They were selling sponsorships, and they were winning.
They won some championships.
But his relationship with Jeanie was really hard.
JEANIE: Oh, I was so happy when the Sparks repeated.
My brother did a great job.
JOHNNY: Jeanie--I did run into her and talk to her.
Of course, you know, they're gonna say
"Congratulations," you know.
But there was a level of resentment.
And I talked to my dad about it,
and he said, "Well, Jeanie is still a little upset
that she didn't get the WNBA team."
LON: Because Jeanie's a female, people thought
it'd just be run by a female.
JEANIE: I'm envious, you know?
And there were people saying, "Well,
why didn't you get that opportunity?"
JOHNNY: Jeanie and I already got to that point
where we didn't talk that often.
But maybe if Jeanie had taken over the WNBA,
maybe she wouldn't have got the job with the Lakers.
If you look at her path,
everything was perfect for her.
And if that was my father's doing
or if that was just, you know, by chance,
I mean, Jeanie, are you-- are you complaining, you know?
I mean, you can't have everything.
JEANIE: My dad would have said, "I want you to do this,"
I would have done it in--in a heartbeat.
But, you know, I understood why he had Johnny
take on that role: because my dad didn't want me
to lose focus on the Lakers.
You know, whatever I can do to support the team is--yeah.
- The big things and the little things, right?
- Right. Right.
- Of course, I feel very comfortable with Jeanie.
I have turned things essentially over to her
the last seven or eight years,
and, uh, this is marvelous.
I can just sit back in that box, as you say,
party a little bit, and watch the basketball games
and know everything's in good hands with Jeanie.
[somber music]
PHIL: She didn't want to golf.
She didn't want to play cards.
She was always at work.
She was always doing her job.
♪ ♪
And she was always, you know, present.
♪ ♪
JEANIE: By that time,
Phil and I were living together
in a house by the beach.
Before I would leave for work, he'd say,
"What time are you gonna be home?"
He did like to cook, and he would tell me
what he was gonna make.
♪ ♪
I had my dog, Princess,
but he called her Cujo.
[laughs] [barks]
And they would be home during the day, when I was at work.
When he was cooking, he would hold her.
Aww.
Are you getting some kisses from little Princess Cujo?
And there were some times
that I would be late for dinner,
and it-- it really bothered him.
- A lot of times, she'd get caught in a conversation
when another owner had called.
JEANIE: Something always came up.
At the end of the day, there was always something going on.
♪ ♪
PHIL: She knew kind of the life
and the heart and soul of what this was all about.
- I paid my dues.
REPORTER: Jeanie, when you came to the Lakers,
were you treated as though you'd paid your dues,
or was there a sense of, "Ah, this is the boss' daughter"?
- Um, well, I'll always be Jerry Buss' daughter.
- I don't like to see the pressures
that are put on her.
Uh, I think that I feel responsible
when she gets into so much stress,
and I kind of wish I could remove it,
but it's too late now.
- You'd feel that way no matter what I was doing in my life
because you're my dad.
LINDA: He worried about her.
He wished in some ways
she could have taken a break.
He told me, "I really wish she would get married again
and have a family."
This is my shower. Isn't this fun?
JEANIE: The women that were my age that were my friends--
you know, by-- by then, were--were,
you know, building their family,
having their children.
- I think she's always wanted to have kids.
Um, she talks about it.
She would be just like my dad, probably sad.
Because she's so into the business,
how could you possibly raise a family?
♪ ♪
JEANIE: I don't think I could have been a working mom.
I think that would have torn me apart.
Do enough in your job so you don't get behind.
Do enough, you know, so you don't miss milestones
of your child's development.
Not, um, judgmental of anybody who--
who felt like they could do it all, but that wasn't me.
LINDA: Dr. Buss told her, "You know,
you don't have to work so hard."
But I think she really felt that it would please her dad.
I think everything was more based on pleasing her father
and getting his approval.
- That's probably the-- the most motivating factor
for, um, working hard and dedicating myself here,
is, you know, to--to impress him with my ability.
♪ ♪
JOHNNY: My father understood it was time for him
to kind of back out of the Lakers.
He certainly was grooming Jimmy and Jeanie,
uh, during that period of time.
- When your father owns the team,
you would assume eventually, you're going to own the team.
Around that time, my title changed.
My dad said, "It would be better
if you were assistant GM."
I think my dad wanted me to start,
you know, having that distinctiveness
that, "Okay, he's not just a scout."
KURT: Dr. Buss created a job for me
to work in the front office
to hopefully increase Jimmy's understanding of the sport.
- My dad knew, for the team to be successful
and for me to be successful, that Jimmy had to understand
exactly what it was like on the road.
♪ ♪
But I had my doubts that my brother would be able
to sustain that kind of routine and schedule
and, you know, be on time 'cause it's hard.
It's a--it's a grueling life, and it takes a toll on you.
- There was not much downtime.
I was scouting pretty much all the time.
- Uh, I think he enjoyed the attention
that the Lakers gave him.
Jimmy liked being recognized.
[crowd cheering]
Now he could date any girl in Los Angeles.
He could get into any club in Los Angeles.
PHIL: Jimmy lived a different life than I did,
going to clubs after hours.
- Jimmy said, "I don't think Phil likes me."
- I left him behind sometimes.
He was out too late at night,
couldn't make it to the bus on time.
- It was one time, and I was standing
when the bus started to drive away.
PHIL: I just said, "You know, this is the way
"we operate as an organization.
"You gotta be part of what we do,
"and this is how we live on the road.
You go on four hours of sleep, you get four hours of sleep."
MITCH: I'm not sure Jimmy felt comfortable, you know,
having conversations with people like Phil Jackson,
and understandably so, right?
Phil won championships.
He's played in the NBA ten years, you know,
and you're the owner's son.
How are you supposed to feel comfortable?
JIM: I was sitting in a meeting with Mitch,
my dad, Phil Jackson.
They asked a question, and I stumbled.
And after that, my dad said,
"You are not ready unless you can answer
those kind of questions fluently."
I thought I was smart enough to have
a conversation with a Mitch Kupchak in basketball
or anybody else, but I--
it turned out I wasn't.
And that made me just study that much harder.
JOHNNY: It seemed like everything was okay with Jimmy
because my dad still had him under his wing.
It was exactly what he wanted, you know.
Jeanie rising up in the business.
Jimmy rising up in-- in the player side of things.
JEANIE: I oversaw ticketing, broadcast, sponsorship,
and Jim oversaw players, coaches, trades.
So I'm on the side of producing revenue,
and the basketball side's on the side of spending revenue.
- Even though they were climbing together,
Jeanie was getting information from elsewhere.
- As far as the basketball operations,
I really didn't get much feedback from her
until Phil Jackson came involved.
JOHNNY: Phil Jackson had her ear
about what was happening with the team.
It kind of separated Jimmy and Jeanie.
♪ ♪
ANNOUNCER: Shaq and Kobe and the rest of the Lakers
knows that it's over.
J.A.: The next year, they lost that playoff series.
Just the weight and the grind of going to the finals
three straight years caught up with them.
You see the sadness on the faces
because they had something special, and it was over.
But then they reload with Gary Payton
and Karl Malone.
So now it's back to, "Oh, this team's gonna be
back in the finals again."
GARY: I was getting older, 14th year.
I said, "Where should I go?
"Is this gon' make my legacy
to win a championship?"
And then that call came from my little brother, Shaq.
"Bro, you about to be a free agent.
Come on over here and let me get you one of these chips."
And then me and Karl had been talking
about playing together.
JIM: Well, Karl Malone was--
he was a Laker Buster.
Like, can we please just get this guy on our team?
Gary Payton, same thing, you know.
He's just-- just would crush us.
GARY: Dr. Buss built a way to get both of us.
PHIL: I'd like to acknowledge, uh, Dr. Jerry Buss, you know,
the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers,
and of course, the Buss family.
GARY: Me and Karl--we were still doing things, you know.
We--we were still good.
Everybody was talking about-- we was gonna be special.
And them two kids was phenomenal.
They were crazy, and they were just starting to roll.
Then all--all everything broke--broke apart.
REPORTER: Earlier today, charges were filed
against Kobe Bean Bryant
of one count of sexual assault.
DEREK: I think I was at the Beverly Center,
and I was like, "Nah.
Are you sure?"
PRODUCER: Did you call him?
- Yeah, but impossible to get through at that time.
BRIAN: I left the Lakers in 2003.
But I called him and left him a long message
and hoped that everything, you know,
turned out well for him.
RICK: He called me.
I just remember he was just like,
"You know that's not true, right, Rick?"
I said-- I--I said, "Bro, I know."
And so I was concerned for him.
He was super upset 'cause he felt mis--
you know, he felt misrepresented
and misunderstood, and...
REPORTER: After three months of seclusion,
Kobe Bryant told reporters how he's really feeling.
REPORTER: Are you scared?
- Terrified. Not--not much--
not so much for myself but just for,
uh, what my family's been going through.
[somber music]
J.A.: One thing we noticed:
Shaq wasn't particularly supportive
publicly at that time or privately.
- Some things were said that got back to Shaq
that Kobe had mentioned to the cops.
There's a street code, you know.
You don't bring anybody else's name into it.
And so therein lies the tension that--that came after.
LUKE WALTON: Most of the season my rookie year,
we were on edge.
You know, part of it was like, "Is this Shaq's team?
Is it Kobe's team?"
Part of it is what he was going through.
But as it gained more power
and more coverage in the media,
then it affected our locker room more.
- The Lakers' offseason started
with the budget-friendly additions
of future Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton
and talks of a 70-plus win season.
Now the Lakers have
a recurring problem to tend to:
the on-again, now off-again relationship
between Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal.
PHIL: They had reached a certain impasse
the beginning of the season before the first game.
REPORTER: The latest in their long line of rifts
came after Shaquille O'Neal suggested
that Kobe Bryant should pass more
until his legs get stronger.
Bryant said he didn't need advice
on how to play his position,
to which Shaq responded,
"I'm not telling him how to play his position.
I'm telling him how to play team ball."
MITCH: Phil said, "This is gonna stop.
I'll take Shaq," and he said, "Mitch, you take Kobe."
And we just got to say that you can't be crushing
each other in the press.
I mean, it's not--that's not how teammates operate.
You know, if it continues, we're gonna have to fine you.
KARL: We say what we need to stay as a team,
and then we go out, and we handle it,
uh, like professional athletes.
MITCH: So I did say it to Kobe, yeah.
And he nodded his head.
And I said, "Do you understand?"
He goes, "I understand."
And on his way home, he called the writer.
ANCHOR: Our Jim Gray just got off the phone with Kobe,
who apparently has responded to Shaquille again.
JIM GRAY: Well, Mike, he has an awful lot to say.
As far as Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe said,
"It doesn't matter whose team it is.
"Nobody cares.
"But since it is his team, no more coming into camp
"fat and out of shape.
"If leaving the Lakers at the end of the season
"is what I decide to do, a major reason for that
"will be Shaq's childlike selfishness and jealousy.
"I asked Phil to say something
"to calm the situation down before it boiled over,
"but he backed away.
So now here we are."
BRIAN: I was in Oakland at home.
I got a call from Devean George.
And he said Shaq had told
some of the other guys on the team,
"When Kobe gets to practice tomorrow,
I'm gonna beat his ass."
It was on.
DEVEAN: B Shaw was off the team,
but he still could tell each and every person
what it was to their face.
And so I'm like, "B, you need to come down, man.
This is getting out of hand."
- So we brought all of these-- all these veterans in,
and we hashed it out.
- It felt like it was, uh--
it could have been World War III.
[dramatic music]
RAMONA: At the time, I remember getting
the assignment from my editor.
He just said, "I need you to call some legal experts
"and find out how this is gonna play out
and what is this-- what's next, and"--
you know, and I think we were all almost shocked,
like, "Oh, Kobe might have to miss time
as he goes through pretrial allegation."
I mean, he'll have to fly back and forth to Colorado.
These were the types of things we were trying to answer.
ANNOUNCER: It's a big night, first time that Kobe
has played a preseason game,
and this is his refuge.
Uh, he has shown a very calm demeanor so far.
ANNOUNCER: Go on the outside.
INTERVIEWER: What has been your reaction to the reception
that you have received in arenas across America?
- You know, I-- I try to block it out.
I try not to have a reaction.
Um, like I said, I go into arenas just, you know,
anticipating the worst.
PERSON: I get calls on our radio show,
people screaming at me, saying, "How can you say
anything good about this guy?"
REPORTER: Bryant was booed loudly by the audience.
BRIAN: He's being the blame for breaking the team up.
KOBE: You can't help but overhear
fans booing or whatever,
but, you know, I do my best to block it out.
ANNOUNCER: And welcome back to, once again,
a sold-out Staples Center, 18,997,
for a matchup between the Lakers
and the Denver Nuggets.
CARMELO: When I got drafted in '03,
everybody was trying to figure out
how Kobe's going to play, was he gonna play,
what games he was gonna sit out.
ANNOUNCER: Now, there is a change
in the starting lineup.
Kobe's status for tonight
is still in question.
CARMELO: Before the game, he wasn't on the scout report.
And first half is going.
He comes in.
ANNOUNCER: This was the scene here at Staples Center
just moments ago. Kobe Bryant...
CARMELO: He walks to the team's bench, you know,
ready to go, not stretching, not warming up.
Just come in and didn't play well.
But he wound up hitting, like, a big shot at the end.
ANNOUNCER: Kobe's gonna go.
Couple of left-handed dribbles.
Has a look at it.
Oh! The Lakers win!
CARMELO: This man is going
through so much shit off the court.
He flew in from a court case.
And the fact that he played and, at the end of the game,
hit the game-winning shot or whatever
said a lot about his mental and his perseverance
as a--as a person.
- This kid is incredibly tough.
He's just tougher than any of the other athletes,
mentally as well as physically.
- It's just been amazing for us to have this opportunity
to play basketball here, and it's been
even more amazing to win back-to-back championships.
[cheers and applause]
- Thanks for your continued support.
We're going into year seven.
It feels great. It's unbelievable.
Here, I had been an important part
of all the growth of the Sparks.
But it just seemed like, gosh, it just wasn't going right.
Things were getting off balance.
JEANIE: My dad worried about the toll
it would take on Johnny
because he knew how hard it was.
- You know, there's a lot that goes behind
running an organization, and the WNBA started growing
a little bit more and taking a bigger hold.
So that required him to spend more time.
And I think probably
the day-to-day wear and tear of the business
probably kind of got to him.
- It was like--oh, you know.
It'd bring back all the memories.
You know, back then, I had a hard time
with the Lazers and--and working within the system.
And so it was just better off that I backed away.
[soft dramatic music]
- It was another day in the office kind of thing
with John leaving the Sparks.
♪ ♪
I thought he was doing such a fantastic job with it,
winning championships and--
but, you know, he has his-- he has his own thought pattern.
- And I took time to understand what my place is,
not only in the family business but in life itself.
And I just felt like it's not my place.
And I went to my dad, and I said, "It's time to go."
And he said, "Well, let's sell it.
Let's just sell it."
JEANIE: And that was the end of Johnny's involvement
in the family business.
INTERVIEWER: Kobe, you've elected to opt out
of your contract at the end of the season.
Can you explain why?
- Well, I've never really been a free agent before.
So, um, I'd kind of like to see what's out there.
J.A.: As much as the allegations
were hanging over the season,
Kobe's free agency was hanging over the season too.
If he didn't feel comfortable,
if things weren't made to his liking,
he had the freedom to walk away.
KOBE: Playing with Shaq has given me championship rings,
but individually,
uh, I can do what I do individually on--
on any team.
♪ ♪
I don't know what the future holds.
INTERVIEWER: Do you think there'll be
a part of you at one point
to say, "I'll show them.
I'll be on a team without the big fella"?
- You know how I am as far as my competitiveness
and responding to challenges.
If I wanted to respond to that challenge,
it's definitely an urge.
- Kobe said to me, "I want to do this
without a dominant big man."
He didn't say to me, "Because Michael did it,"
but I know.
Michael was the gold standard for Kobe.
- You know, we found out later that on Super Bowl Sunday,
Kobe had gone to meet with Jerry Buss.
- At no time did Kobe and I discuss
whether he would come back based on Shaq or Phil.
- I don't believe that Kobe gave him an ultimatum.
I think that was Jerry Buss' understanding.
And then right before the All-Star break,
the Lakers formally announce that contract extension talks
with Phil Jackson are off the table.
INTERVIEWER: You used the words "psychological war"
between you and Kobe.
PHIL: One of the things that really changed
our relationship in the last year
was that there were some heated words.
I--I actually said to Kobe that it's too destructive
to have that vitriolic hot flow coming out of you
towards me because it--it undermines
what the team has to do.
And at that particular time,
I realized that our relationship
had disintegrated.
- What happened when you went to see
Mitch Kupchak in late January?
PHIL: The essence of what I said is,
"I don't think I can coach Kobe anymore.
"I can't reach him.
"And if you want me to continue on with this ball club,
"then the change has to be made.
And if you want Kobe on this ball club, then I have to go."
- You're the coach.
You figure it out.
And if you're not gonna do it,
I'll find somebody else to do it.
But if it comes down to Kobe or you, I'm keeping Kobe.
TONY: Wilbon, will they lose Phil Jackson?
WILBON: Yes.
TONY: Will they lose Kobe Bryant?
WILBON: Eh. TONY: And will Shaq ask out?
♪ ♪
- Shaq famously said to my dad,
you know, "Show me the money.
Yeah, that--that was not a good moment.
- It--it just added more stress to the situation.
I think he was kind of not joking,
but joking, but--and not.
SHAQ: I'm a businessman.
You're not gonna pay me 120
and then come back and pay me 80
when I'm worth 200.
Look, a lot of stuff was going on that year.
A lot.
♪ ♪
PHIL: Kobe had a situation that was going on
that was still overriding his career.
Everything that portended for failure or for loss
happened, and still, here we were in the finals.
- The rumors that were going around
about Phil wasn't coming back, Shaq wasn't coming back,
it was a real distraction for the team
and was really undermining to Phil in--in trying
to get the team focused so that we could win
that championship.
But instead, it just all fell apart.
BUSS: All of the shenanigans had--had drained everybody
to a point where I felt we walked in
as a totally spent team.
- Well, I think most of us thought
the Lakers would sweep the Pistons,
maybe the Pistons would take one game off them,
and the exact opposite happened.
The Lakers won one game.
FLEA: I was on tour in Europe, and I'd go find a sports bar
that was open at 4:00 in the morning
and watch the game, and they would lose.
I remember just, like, walking back to the hotel,
like, you know, a three-mile walk back
'cause there's no cabs.
And I'm tired, and the fucking Lakers
lost to the Pistons.
CROWD: Detroit basketball!
BUSS: It culminated in severe disappointment.
I can't help but think that perhaps we're a better team
than we showed in the finals.
INTERVIEWER: Was this probably your last game as a Laker?
KOBE: Um, I don't know.
Um, you know,
we'll have to wait till the summer to find out.
- Maybe losing this one, this opportunity is--
is enough for me to--
uh, to say that it's time to give it up.
To lose that series to Detroit was
kind of the end of the line, and everybody could feel it.
- My dad told Phil, like, "You know,
I'm probably gonna trade Shaq."
And Phil said, you know, that would be a huge mistake.
And my dad said, "Well, it-- it really won't matter to you
because you're not coming back."
[somber music]
BUSS: I think basketball coaches
are effective for about five years.
I really do.
That whole situation just ran its course,
and it was time to start fresh.
- But you're a nine-time championship-winning coach.
You're not just any coach.
How could that decision have been made
to choose Kobe over that coach?
- You know, I-- I have great respect
for Dr. Buss.
I have respect for his decision.
I understand his decision.
- If you'd have won that championship
against Detroit, would you have made the same change?
- I think in Phil's case,
I think he would have retired anyway.
♪ ♪
- Phil came home and opened a bottle of champagne
and said he was relieved
he wasn't gonna have to come back.
♪ ♪
PHIL: Drank a bottle of champagne and talked
about what a great time we'd had for those five years
and what a difference it was gonna make in our lives.
Jeanie and I know that, you know,
if I'm not here with this organization,
you know, she is.
She's gonna be here.
- Getting involved with a player or a coach,
you could get traded.
You get--you might not sign back.
I mean, that's just-- that's part of the job.
- There wasn't that, um, compassion
about the fact that the man I'm in a relationship with
just lost his job.
Like, "How does that make you feel?"
You know, "Are you okay?"
I always knew that when I started dating Phil
six years ago that there would be a day
where he would leave the Lakers.
Was he still gonna live in Los Angeles?
I knew I could only live in Los Angeles.
Was he gonna move to Montana?
Was he gonna take another job?
I was getting flashbacks of what it was like
when my husband was playing volleyball in Italy
and how hard it was to keep my career going.
♪ ♪
Things weren't gonna last forever,
and this was the time that I was gonna have to,
you know--
you know, just kind of figure out my life.
♪ ♪
SHAQ: Usually, when, uh, something happens,
like the firing of a coach, I would know about it,
but I wake up, and I turn on ESPN like I always do.
[scatting news anthem]
"Phil Jackson fired as Laker coach."
I'm like, "Nah, that ain't true."
So I called Mitch. I said, uh, "What's going on?"
"Yeah, there's gonna be some changes around."
I was like, "You're gonna get rid of the man
"that took us to the finals four out of the five years,
all the stuff he had to go through?"
♪ ♪
MITCH: In the spring of 2004, we tried to extend Shaquille,
and we didn't get to the number that he wanted to get to.
- He made it clear to us during his negotiation
that unless we paid him
the maximum amount of money for the maximum term,
he wanted to be traded.
JIM: You know, everybody wants to get paid more.
[laughs]
You start to look at a losing proposition,
so you have to sometimes blow it up.
- When somebody says, "Trade me,"
they're saying, "Listen, you know,
we should part our ways."
And you have to trade people
before they're not tradable.
REPORTER: When you start to hear the suggestion
that, you know--people saying that you're old, slow,
weak, how do you take that?
- Of course, I'm slow and weaker, but I'm still me.
I'm still Diesel.
- I mean, let's face it.
Dr. Buss, the Lakers got
the best years from Shaquille.
They definitely did.
- I guess they wanted to spend on the young guy,
and, uh, they didn't want to deal with the old guy.
I figured they would get rid of me first.
- Why you first?
- Because he's their guy.
He's younger, energetic, more athletic.
He's the future, whatever that means.
And I understood that.
I don't take nothing personal, man.
Mr. Buss called me, said, "Hey, man.
"I love you.
"I understand you don't want to take less money.
Miami is interested in you."
"Okay, I'll go to Miami. Thank you, sir."
Cool with me. Business is basketball.
INTERVIEWER: Do you have any regrets,
having traded Shaquille?
- None.
I mean, that's a franchise decision
done, in my opinion,
for the best health of the franchise.
I think he took it more personally
than it was intended.
MITCH: I certainly knew that trading Shaquille,
we were gonna take our lumps, or at least I was,
and I also knew that Kobe was a free agent,
and it's kind of like, "Well, what if he goes too?"
Right?
You know, my fourth year as a GM,
it could be-- this could be it, right?
It could be all she wrote.
♪ ♪
- We want to get you caught up right now
on the latest breaking news from the Kobe Bryant case.
The criminal case against him appears to be over.
♪ ♪
GARY: Well, Anderson, we expected to see
a civil trial in the case, but it will not happen.
Both sides have reached a civil settlement.
The case is now completely over.
INTERVIEWER: Kobe, Phil Jackson has left
the organization, and Shaquille O'Neal.
There's a wide-ranging perception in the public
that you were at the controls.
How much did you have to do with both of their departures?
- Oh, zero. Nothing.
But, you know, people's perception--
they always want to run with the biggest story.
You know, they say, "Oh, well, him and Shaq didn't get along,
"so, you know, Shaq's leaving.
He's not happy there, so Kobe must have ran him out."
That's not true.
I mean, we had eight overall good years together,
and we had our rocky times--
you know, we had our share of arguments--
but we were able to win three titles.
And, you know, now we've gone separate ways.
♪ ♪
But ultimately, I'm happy to be playing for the Lakers.
This is a happy day.
- In order to be the godfather, whoever's in charge,
you gotta take him out.
So when I got traded,
kid just-- he finally gets what he wants.
He's been waiting for this moment since he's 18.
Tired of being in the shadow of people.
It's all his.
ANNOUNCER: Kobe Bryant has just checked back in.
[dramatic music building]
♪ ♪
- Remember this, 'cause I'ma bring
a championship to Miami. I promise.
A lot of people probably thought
I was gonna be doing this interview, taking shots.
No, doesn't matter what I think.
But, uh, you know, some people go--do certain things
to--to get that power.
INTERVIEWER: Be careful what you wish for.
- You said it.
KOBE: I'm here in LA.
I'm trying to do the best job I can.
He's down in Miami trying to do the best job he can,
and I wish him all the best.
And, you know, I'll see you on December 25th.
♪ ♪