Kobe Bryant would never say that Tim Duncan is better than he is.
Just as surely, Phil Jackson would never say that Gregg Popovich is either.
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Kobe and Phil have won and done so much that they don't have to bow down to anyone, but the reality is that Timmy and Pop continue to win together in San Antonio in Year 15, having now twice outlasted Bryant and Jackson given the Lakers' breakups in 2004 and '11
In a basic sense, that's what the story seems to be in San Antonio: the same old one about guys staying put and being solid.
It's actually the exact opposite.
Duncan and Popovich keep winning because they've changed.
We're talking about more than the 15 pounds Duncan dropped before last season to deal with ongoing knee problems or the myriad of hairstyles Popovich has tried.
There is more than one way to win.
Popovich used to win with defense. Now he wins with offense.
He used to win with Duncan first. Now he wins with Tony Parker first.
He used to win with Mike Brown helping him. Now he wins by helping Mike Brown.
On that last point, yes, Popovich has stayed a mentor to Brown, a Spurs assistant in 2000-03, even though Brown took the head-coaching post with one of the very few teams that figured to be a fellow contender in the Western Conference.
Popovich helping Brown through this challenging first season with the Lakers might seem odd or even foolish to some. But it's who Popovich is, despite the sometimes gruff exterior: loyal, caring and invested in people.
That is, Brown believes, the secret to Popovich's success: his people skills.
And if you stop and think about it, the people who have the most of those skills are usually pretty generous with everything they have.
Duncan is hardly a people-person, but as with Popovich, there's a fundamental generosity in his approach to team building â€" which is why Duncan has been able to share spotlights so well with David Robinson once upon a time and Parker and Manu Ginobili more recently.
The trick in that flexibility is that you are willing to sacrifice your ego â€" but not your results.
And if you're wondering whether Bryant can toe that precarious line in the coming years, you're not the only one.
Brown still has much to prove with the Lakers, and one epic uncertainty is whether he is capable of shifting some of Bryant's burden away, as Popovich has masterfully done for Duncan over the years. The just-eliminated Lakers were as much Kobe's team as ever.
Brown has so far shown a Rudy Tomjanovich-like inability even to rest Bryant for as many minutes as he tells himself he will in games. After hyping an offense that would run through Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol the way San Antonio's did with Duncan and Robinson, Brown wound up dumping the ball on Bryant and asking him to carry the offense while Brown used his limited teaching time to focus on defense.
It's an interesting Western Conference finals series for Lakers followers â€" Popovich, Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs with a 2-0 lead on the Oklahoma City team that rather easily ousted Brown, Bryant and the Lakers.
Popovich in a sense helped the Thunder get to this point also. Sam Presti, the heralded architect of the Thunder's roster, got his start as Popovich's video-coordinator intern in San Antonio.
And Presti was on the scene when Popovich was responsible for Brown's only NBA championship ring from serving as a Spurs assistant coach in 2003. Even this season, Popovich was responsible for the framed motto hanging in the Lakers' locker room â€" right next to Bryant's stall â€" because Brown stole Popovich's Spurs idea of commemorating Jacob Riis' stonecutter's credo about consistent work ethic for Brown's first season as Lakers head coach.
What is a little misleading about the tale of 100 blows on the same rock preceding a 101st that cracks it in two is that those 101 efforts aren't all supposed to be exactly the same.
What we learned in Brown and Bryant's first season together is that they will both pound that rock to the point that they earn each other's respect. What they haven't figured out is what they need to change in order to hit it more productively.
In Popovich's case, he has an array of buttons, and he is capable of pushing them and the people around him in various ways, depending on the moment.
"The reason he is so successful is the way he manages his players," said TNT commentator Steve Kerr, who spent the final moments of his NBA playing career helping Brown and Popovich win that 2003 NBA title. "He's really, really fun and funny and outgoing. But there is also a part of you that is a little bit afraid of him."
Brown being a little scarier might be good. Bryant being a little less scary might, too.
It's not at all about anyone reinventing themselves, though.
As Popovich and Duncan know, it's simply about welcoming changes for the better.
Contact the writer: kding@ocregister.com
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