Kobe Bryant respects the possible replacements for Mike Brown as the Los Angeles Lakers’ next head coach. As a child in Italy, Bryant became a fan of Mike D’Antoni while watching him play. Bryant previously endorsed ex-teammate Brian Shaw to replace Phil Jackson as the team’s coach. But even with all that politically correct talk, there is one coach Bryant would like to fill the big shoes Jackson left behind two seasons ago. Jackson himself.

“We have a good enough relationship where he knows where I stand,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports after scoring a game-high 27 points in just the Lakers’ second win in six games this season. “He’s realistically the greatest coach to ever coach in any sport. It’s as simple as that. He’s that for a reason. When you have the greatest coach of all time in any profession out there available you have to reach out to him.”

via Marc J. Spears of YAHOO! Sports