Lakers' Jackson on Heat: Big boys don't cry

Lakers' Jackson on Heat: Big boys don't cry

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ATLANTA -- Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson tried to bite his tongue.

When first asked about the Miami Heat's recent struggles, including the revelation by head coach Erik Spoelstra that players were crying in the locker room following their loss to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, Jackson didn't have much to say.

"It's just drama," Jackson said after the Lakers' shootaround Tuesday morning in Atlanta. Jackson then referred reporters' Miami-related questions to assistant coach Frank Hamblen, because Hamblen was responsible for scouting the Heat for Thursday's game, while Jackson wanted to focus on the Hawks game at hand.

“
This is the NBA: No Boys Allowed. Big boys don't cry. But, if you're going to do it, do it in the toilet where no one can see.
”
-- Lakers coach Phil Jackson

The Heat was brought up again during Jackson's pregame media session Tuesday night, however, and this time the Hall of Fame coach couldn't help himself from tweaking the talented bunch from South Beach.

"This is the NBA: No Boys Allowed," Jackson said. "Big boys don't cry. But, if you're going to do it, do it in the toilet where no one can see."

This came seconds after Jackson tried to deflect the reporter's question by saying, "People cry in locker rooms, yes, [but] I don't want to talk about Miami's situation."

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was more diplomatic when asked for his opinion of the Heat while appearing on the "Max and Marcellus" show on 710 ESPN in Los Angeles on Monday.

"They have their own issues over there. Every team has issues. At this point of the season, if you don't have issues you're not a team," Bryant said. "Everybody responds to adversity differently. Doesn't make it right, doesn't make it wrong. It's how you come out of it. That's the true mark of a team."


"I really don't care too much about bulletin board stuff. That means nothing to me," Bryant said.

"I gave you an honest answer. Everybody responds differently. If guys are crying in the locker room, guys are crying in the locker room. That doesn't mean they're chumps. That doesn't mean they're soft. It doesn't mean anything."

This isn't the first time this season Jackson has made critical comments about the Heat to the press.

In late November, after Miami had stumbled out the gates to an 8-6 start, Jackson publicly questioned whether Spoelstra's job was safe.

"The scenario that sits kind of behind the scene, is that eventually these guys that were recruited -- [Chris] Bosh and [LeBron] James -- by Pat Riley and Micky Arison, the owner, are going to come in and say, 'We feel you [Riley] can do a better job coaching the team. We came here on the hopes that this would work,' and whatever, I don't know," Jackson said at the time. "That's kind of my take on it, is that eventually if things don't straighten out here soon, it could be the [Stan] Van Gundy thing all over again."

Jackson later backed off his comment, calling it an "off-hand remark" and apologized.

"I'm not throwing any aspersions on Spoelstra," Jackson said. "He's a very fine young coach."

The Lakers play the Heat on Thursday in Miami. The last time the two teams met, Miami won 96-80 on Christmas Day.

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