Kobe Bryant: I’m jealous of Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich
By Jack Crosby
While the NBA Western Conference Finals aren’t over just yet, there’s a good chance that Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs could make it to the NBA Finals, where Duncan would have a chance to grab his fifth ring, putting him into an elite group, one that includes Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
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Now there are some that believe Kobe could have more rings than five at this point in his career. had he spent more of it with Phil Jackson. Well, you can add Bryant to the list of people that believe this because he recently expressed how jealous he is that Duncan has gotten to spend the last 17 years with Popovich.
“I’m jealous of Tim,” Kobe Bryant tells ESPN.com, “playing for the same historically great coach for his entire career.”
Of course, while it’s hard to imagine Bryant being “jealous” of anything, considering there is still a good part of the basketball population that believes Bryant is still the best player on the planet, you can see where he’s coming from.
Since Duncan and Popovich have been together, dating back to the 1997-98 campaign, the team has not only won those four championships, but they’ve made the playoffs 17 years in a row.
Bryant, on the other hand, has played for eight different coaches during his career besides Jackson. His most recent one, Mike D’Antoni, recently resigned from the position, meaning that Bryant will soon be playing for a ninth.