Jackson quotes

Here is the transcript of Phil Jackson’s session with the media after today’s practice…

Q: Did Kobe go the whole practice?
JACKSON: We got into some scrimmaging at the end. He wasn’t a part of that.

Q: Is he going to play tomorrow or is that a game-time decision?
JACKSON: Yeah, we’ll probably play him.

Q: Any idea how many minutes:
JACKSON: I’ll run him a little bit, get him out there.

Q: Is that a good thing, just to get him out on the court with his teammates?
JACKSON: He really knows what he’s doing out there on the floor. He was extremely helpful to the young players today, in getting through the offense and teaching them various parts of our offense that they’re still learning. So that was good.

Q: How did he seem out there, morale wise?
JACKSON: Good. I thought we got a little bit loose towards the end there. Kwame was having a spectacular practice, but he’s always a little bit loose anyway.

Q: How about Kobe in particular?
JACKSON: Nothing to report on that end.

Q: Business as usual?
JACKSON: Yeah, it really was.

Q: How good was it for the team to at least have him out there?
JACKSON: I just think this group is playing, trying to win spots. Most of these guys aren’t understanding the context of all this. They’re just going through the game and playing and trying to win a spot and the favor of the coaches.

Q: How about for you, just to ease up some of the uncertainty?
JACKSON: Yeah, it’s the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.

Q: Does he seem happy? Because he didn’t seem happy yesterday.
JACKSON: I didn’t see that. No, he seemed all right. He sure did.