Phil Jackson was at the SLOAN conference, and all the basketball brainiacs stopped and listened. When you have more championship rings than fingers, people tend to believe you.

As part of multiple dynasties of two of the best teams in the league, Phil Jackson has a lot to say. But before we talk about the future, his revelations about his storied past were very interesting.

USA Today had the gracious tidbits shared by the Zen Master. First off, he revealed the real reason why the Lakers dynasty of the early 2000s ended with the bitter break-up of Shaq and Kobe.

Kobe was always seen as the villain. He was competitive and selfish, or at least that was how it was portrayed. Jackson never really took sides, but he went back and coached the Kobe-led Bryant for two more titles.

Perhaps it was time for the truth to come out.

Jackson f(rom USA Today): "Shaq didn't work at it. Michael was able to succeed despite all kinds of limitations in his game. He couldn't hit an outside shot. He couldn't defend. But all of that went away because of his work ethic. Kobe saw that as a pinnacle that he had to reach, and he took it to a whole new level."

"Shaq had a clown role he had to play. So that was part of the rift." Kobe's obsession to compete was often chronicled, and it was something that he emulated from Michael Jordan.

And speaking of Jordan, the second trilogy of the vaunted dynasty would have had a much different cast if Jackson had his way. Or maybe, it might have never happened at all.

Dennis Rodman was dead last in the Zen Master's list when they wanted to acquire a power forward. You can't blame him. A lot of people doubted it would work.

Phil's narration: "We had to start over when Michael came back. We had to start with Toni (Kukoc), Scottie and MJ, and I wrote out a list of seven power forwards."

It was revealed that the top of the list had Derrick Coleman. "The mentality was not there. The skills were there, but he was in the middle of a long-term contract."

The story continues: "After missing out on their other options, the Bulls turned to Rodman - and made basketball history.

'That was the best we could do.' As it turns out, he was right: Rodman played a crucial role in the Bulls' second three-peat, leading the league in rebounding all three years.

'He had incredible athleticism. And incredible weirdness. And sometimes the weirdness followed him out to the bars after the game.'"