Phil Jackson on Dennis Rodman: 'I don't know if anybody rebounds at the level he rebounds even today in this sport'

“Growing up, I wasn’t idolizing my game after Dennis Rodman,” Vanderbilt says, again invoking the Hall of Famer’s name. “But my role, since I’ve been in the NBA, is pretty much trying to simulate what he did. … Real basketball minds and real basketball players, they don’t underestimate that value of the game.” -via The Athletic / April 11, 2023

Vanderbilt is also imprinting his all-out style on the rest of the team. Lakers coach Darvin Ham calls him the team’s “Energizer Bunny.” Austin Reaves says he’s “the best defender in the NBA.” D’Angelo Russell, reunited with Vanderbilt after the two were teammates in Minnesota from 2020 to 2022, goes one step further. “Vando’s making all these Dennis Rodman plays for us,” he says. -via The Athletic / April 11, 2023

Vanderbilt is also imprinting his all-out style on the rest of the team. Lakers coach Darvin Ham calls him the team’s “Energizer Bunny.” Austin Reaves says he’s “the best defender in the NBA.” D’Angelo Russell, reunited with Vanderbilt after the two were teammates in Minnesota from 2020 to 2022, goes one step further. “Vando’s making all these Dennis Rodman plays for us,” he says. For Vanderbilt, playing hard is a skill honed like any other. “There’s a lot that goes into it,” Vanderbilt told The Athletic. “It’s energy, but it’s being smart with it too. Like, I know who I can pick up. I know when to back up. I know, just reading the scouting report, when I can shoot the gaps and try to go for a steal. Going certain directions on whoever the player is. So it’s a lot of film and studying that goes into it as well.” -via The Athletic / April 11, 2023

Rick Rubin: What goes into a miraculous shot. Phil Jackson: Well, I think the impossibility of the situation. You know, the one that Michael made, finish out the last dance, that was all programmed. They scored with 40 seconds to go they were up by three points, I call the timeout. And I said, we’re gonna do this and you’re gonna have this opportunity. But I know the coach is not going to call a timeout for the other team. They’ll do the same thing that you guys know, they’ll run a post play inside cross pick by the guard. Michael, you’d come back and steal a ball from Malone right there. And we’ll go down we’re on the same situation. But whatever, you just make an adjustment on no timeouts. You won’t see that ever in this day and age. After Michael scores this incredible shot— ‘I told him during the timer, you’ve been shooting the ball and you’ve got tired and now your hands are dropping. So when you shoot your shot, make sure you follow through with your hand’. So he follows through. The ball goes in. We are up by one point. Now they call a timeout. Now there’s like I don’t know less than whatever four seconds or whatever. Now they call it timeout. But you don’t see plays like that anymore, where there’s no timeouts, there’d be usually be like three timeouts. In this day and age coaches want to control. -via Apple Podcasts / April 23, 2023

Phil Jackson: After the Dream Team Olympics in 92, Michael Jordan came down the office and we’re getting ready to start the season. He said, ‘Scottie Pippen is the second best player in the NBA’. I said, ‘Oh, who’s the best?’ He said ‘Come on, you know who’s is the best.’ -via ivoox.com / April 23, 2023

Former NBA star Jason Richardson thinks Kobe is the second greatest player ever, behind Michael Jordan and ahead of LeBron James. -via The Sun / April 23, 2023