Phil Jackson

you know, taking helicopters and, you know, that world that he knew a little bit because he used helicopters to travel from LAX, the airport in LA, down to Orange County after we come in at two in the morning.

So, you know, he had confidence and

You know, it was a heartbreak for us that were close to him.

And, you know, literally a family of girls and a wife that had, you know, really been with him since he was a 20-year-old.

So, yeah, it was tragic.

And yet his legacy, I think, has really shown up.

I mean, it's been...

It's been played out, and young players are carrying him forward and using his example of hard work and tenaciousness and competitiveness to their advantage.

Well, I can't recall any of the comments I've made that have been controversial, but certainly that is a difficult thing to hold up with.

Once you're called a racist, it becomes like a label.

You don't live away from it or you don't overcome it by saying, no, some of my best friends are black.

No.

That's not how you do it.

There's no redeeming value in that particular thing.

But it was an incident.

That was an incident in which Scotty didn't get the opportunity and he was kind of lashing out about an incident in which was a basketball reaction and a basketball decision that I made.

But one of the joys of being able to play in the NBA has been the relationship and the teammates that I've been able to play with that have come from all diverse groups of people.

And the African-American kids that have grown up in certain situations that have been trials, like...

Walt Frazier grew up in Buttermilk Bottoms in Atlanta.

And, you know, his dad was a numbers guy.