Phil Helpful on Kyrie Irving and LeBron James’ relationship, coaching with Kobe Bryant, tensions between Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant, and extra on “Podcast P with Paul George”.
We share this week’s episode of “Podcast P with Paul George”, introduced by Wave Sports activities + Leisure, the place PG and the fellows are joined by NBA coach Phil Helpful.
On this episode, Phil shares his ideas on the stress between Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant, displays on Kyrie Irving and LeBron James’ relationship, opens up about coaching with Kobe throughout the peak of his profession, and way more.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- (20:21): PHIL ON HIS MEMORIES OF TRAINING WITH KOBE BRYANT
PHIL: “…I feel he revered my work ethic. I used to be at all times there early, I at all times stayed late. I used to be at all times on the courtroom with whoever needed to be on the ground and he revered my work ethic as a rookie coach. He noticed what I used to be doing, he noticed that I understood the nuances of what I used to be educating. I feel our first exercise, Kobe, he was a dude that basically knew what he needed, proper? He’s 17 years in, he was already Kobe Bryant. My very first query to him was, man, how can I enable you get higher? The place can I enable you? The place do you need to go, what issues do you need to work on? And he was very exact. I need to proceed to get higher with my ball dealing with. I need to maintain beginning with my footwork and proceed to work on my separation on my jumper. He knew what he needed and in order that made it an entire lot simpler for me to actually attempt to dive in and simply collaborate with him when it comes to simply serving to him proceed to be who he was.”
PHIL: “The most important factor I noticed with Kobe was he was such a vertical participant. Kobe was one of many individuals– such as you guys are very vertical, however you’re in a position to make use of your verticality to get individuals off stability and drop down right into a low stance– and one of many issues I informed to him after I first began working with Kobe, you, you’re so vertical and also you’re lengthy. I need to enable you condense your deal with and change into somewhat tighter and use the width of your physique to change into sharper together with your hand. I bear in mind the primary time I stated that to him, he was simply taking a look at me like, what does that even imply? So I had already carried out my analysis with video and movie, so I confirmed him a pair issues. He was like, okay, that is smart and simply that was actually the one factor for him as a result of he was like I assumed I used to be good at footwork, man– that was an entire nother masterclass after I was working with him and simply as I at all times inform individuals on a regular basis, and as coaches, it’s not simply us educating as gamers, man, you guys educate me, I discovered a lot from all of you guys within the sense of simply understanding. You already know your nuances, so let me be taught from you the issues that you simply do properly to the place I may help intensify your recreation and man, he was gracious.”
- (32:14): PHIL OPENS UP ABOUT DWIGHT HOWARD AND KOBE BRYANT’S ROCKY RELATIONSHIP AND WHY THEY DIDN’T MESH WHILE ON THE LAKERS TOGETHER
PHIL: “Dwight is a corridor of famer so he was in his pond in Orlando, proper? He at all times say the NBA, the markets are totally different. Orlando’s a small pond regardless that Dwight was an enormous fish. He comes from Orlando and he involves Los Angeles, which is an enormous pond, and there’s already an enormous fish in that pond. Dwight has at all times been a man that cared about how individuals perceived him and the way individuals introduced him in and I feel LA was simply such an enormous place within the shiny lights. It wasn’t too shiny for him however when him and Kobe received collectively, man, their relationship was, I need to say it wasn’t rocky, however they have been two totally different gamers and Kobe was who he was and in case you performed with him, you understood who he was as a teammate. Kobe was tremendous demanding and so in case you’re the A-personality and also you come to a different group and typically there’s one other A character and that A character could be somewhat bit extra vocal or have somewhat bit extra of a cutthroat angle or mentality, it may very well be powerful, man. So the adjustment of Dwight coming from Orlando to LA and having to take care of one other celebrity, typically these issues, they don’t at all times mesh and folks don’t actually perceive that. Folks simply suppose, oh, Dwight, Kobe, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, they need to all be capable of play properly collectively and it don’t at all times work out like that. Generally individuals simply don’t match and that’s all it actually boils right down to. Generally individuals simply don’t match on a group and it simply doesn’t work and it didn’t assist that Steve Nash was not wholesome that 12 months.”
- (43:58): PHIL ON LEBRON JAMES AND KYRIE IRVING COMING TOGETHER FOR THE HISTORIC 2016 NBA FINALS GAME 5 WIN
PHIL: “When you return and watch the movie, Draymond was in entrance of our bench simply speaking noise. He was clowning, they have been taunting our bench. Klay was in entrance of our bench and I’m sitting behind the bench throughout the recreation and I’m fuming. I’m going loopy. I’m cussing at Draymond [Green] within the second– when the sport ended we have been strolling off the ground and I requested, I stated, coach, you thoughts if I say one thing to the group, I can’t deal with this so we get within the locker room, T Lou was like, yeah man, say what it’s essential say, man, after I inform y’all I blacked out, I blacked out. I used to be simply so mad like, yo man, we’re within the NBA finals. These dudes are kicking our ass. They speaking sh*t in entrance of our bench. They clowned us, they punking us. No, there’s no approach we not constructed like that and I simply actually needed to only infuse the group within the sense of, come on man, we received to compete man. We will’t let these dudes, there’s no approach we are able to let these dudes punk us like this. I had a second, man, I blacked out. It was fairly– they stated I used to be in gamers’ faces and so we went again to Cleveland man and the fellas, they responded to only competing and we received recreation three, we ended up dropping recreation 4 and we get into the locker room and T Lou was so calm and him and LeBron [James] and so they have been tremendous calm…TLou was like deliver it in– When you don’t suppose we are able to win recreation 5, don’t get on the aircraft. And LeBron was like, hell yeah and that was it. Introduced it in, cats went their approach. We get on that aircraft and man that recreation 5, bro, that’s most likely one of the vital historic– oh my God watching Kyrie and LeBron, individuals may say no matter they need. Draymond was out, man, I don’t care. We nonetheless needed to win the sport. Them cats nonetheless needed to compete and carry out. Man, that’s most likely one of the vital epic duo performances I’ve ever seen in my life. Them cats, they went to work and it was like all they stated was, we win recreation 5, we get again to Cleveland, it’s over.”
- (50:24): PHIL SAYS THERE WAS NO TENSION BETWEEN KYRIE IRVING AND LEBRON JAMES WHEN KYRIE WANTED TO LEAVE THE CAVALIERS
PHIL: “Yeah, no tensions. Kyrie will brazenly let you know, he was only a younger cat man. He was younger. I don’t need to say he was immature, however he was a younger cat that needed to run his personal ship and so he received to a degree after, I feel it was the fourth 12 months we had been to the finals. Kyrie was form like, man, I’m able to be out from beneath his thumb. I need to do my very own factor and simply take a look at the water and see if I can lead my very own group and there was no rift between these two. The way in which the entire commerce state of affairs got here, in fact the media goes to should say this or they received to take a position on no matter they need to speculate however Kyrie simply on the finish of the day, he simply felt like, man, I would like my very own group. I need to see if I may take a look at the waters and be my very own man. I feel he’s had interviews the place he talked about like, man, if I’d needed to do it over once more, I’d most likely make a unique determination as a result of him and LeBron, man, he have been two totally different individuals. However that duo man was, they have been harmful bro.”