Phil Jackson: Kobe 'went beyond' Jordan in training

Professional athletes hate to lose, but Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are two legendary superstars known for taking their obsessions with winning to the extreme.

That extends to the practice court, to which any of their former teammates and coaches can probably attest.

Jordan was unquestionably the better player, despite contrary arguments from some Lakers fans. But according to Phil Jackson, who famously coached both players, Bryant gets the edge when it comes to his training regimen.

"No one can approach that. I don’t expect anybody to be able to model their behavior after that," Jackson told the New York Post when asked if Bryant was a suitable model for Carmelo Anthony to emulate.

"Although Kobe modeled his behavior a lot about Michael Jordan, but he went beyond Michael in his attitude towards training, and I know Mike would probably question me saying that, but he did."

I'm sure this won't create any watercooler talk.

If there's any reason to believe Bryant, a 36-years-old who's logged more than 54,000 minutes between the regular season and playoffs, can rebound from a knee injury suffered shortly after returning from a torn Achilles, that mystical dedication to training would be it.