Even the best players of a generation need a helping hand when they hit the wall. The old saying "teamwork makes the dream work" isn't just a cliché; it's true for every part of life, including basketball. And perhaps there's no better example of how real that is than Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers .
Kobe Bryant , still one of the best, if not the best, players in the world at the time, was nearing the twilight of his legendary career. But that night at Staples Center, he started off ice-cold. Forcing the issue in the first half, Bryant kept trying to will his team through sheer determination over and over again. The shots weren't falling, the rhythm wasn't there and it was clear this wasn't working.
Phil Jackson , a man whose coaching resume will likely never be topped, saw what was happening. So he delivered a simple but crucial message to his star player.
"In the seventh game of the series against the Boston Celtics in the last Championship I've been a part of. We have a seventh game, and Kobe was so geared up in that game that he was trying to do it all by himself. And as the game went on, I don't know if he was 3 from 14, and I think he ended up with something like 6 from 25 for the game, shooting-wise. Nothing would fall, nothing would go right for him," Jackson recalled .
After two quarters, the Lakers were down 40–34, and a big part of that deficit was Kobe's atrocious shooting display, just three-for-14 from the field. No matter how good the Black Mamba was, this simply wasn't his night offensively. The frustration was visibly setting in. But that's where having The Zen Master in your corner made all the difference.
"He would come back to the bench, and he would be frustrated and say, Just get in the system, all you have to do is enter the system and be part of it, and the thing will start turning out right," Phil added, "He has accepted it, that's not going to be about his own desire, will, power… It is going to be about doing the things together."
That was the moment Kobe shifted gears. Instead of forcing tough shots over swarming Boston defenders, he started doing other things more and trusted his teammates to pick up where he left off. This wasn't about giving up; it was about changing the plan to reach the ultimate goal.
From that point on, the Lakers collectively flipped the switch. They chipped away at the Celtics' lead, outmuscled them in the paint, and pulled off a gritty 83–79 comeback victory to avenge the sting of their 2008 Finals defeat. Kobe still finished as Finals MVP and led the team in scoring, but it was the contributions from Pau Gasol , Metta World Peace and the rest of the supporting cast that turned the tide.
Gasol dominated the boards, Metta hit a clutch three, and the Lakers' defense suffocated Boston when it mattered most. Kobe's acceptance that this Game 7 wasn't going to be won by his incredible solo performance proved to be a game-changer in every sense of that term.
This was proof that even the best of the best need a helping hand when things are not going their way. And in the end, it delivered Kobe's fifth and final championship ring.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 9, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
