Kobe Bryant to New York Knicks fans: Trust Phil Jackson

Kobe Bryant says Phil Jackson is the "greatest coach in any profession" and New York fans should trust their team president to turn things around despite the Knicks likely missing the playoffs for the third straight season.

The Los Angeles Lakers icon, who at retiring at season's end, has a message to those criticizing his former coach.

"People in New York just need to trust the fact that he knows more about basketball than any of them put together," Bryant said after scoring 14 points as his Lakers lost to the Knicks 90-87 on Sunday night at Staples Center. "In my opinion, he's the greatest coach in any profession. Ever.

"As a coach you obviously have more control over the outcome, to a certain extent. What he does now is really understanding the personnel. But that's no different than what he did as a coach. As a coach, he would have broken down the players, understood the players. That's the same thing he has to do as a GM."

The Knicks have won three of their past five games but are only 28-40. Their record since the start of the 2014-15 season with Jackson in charge is 45-105.

The 70-year-old Jackson fired Derek Fisher on Feb. 8 after a 23-31 start to his second season and named associate head coach Kurt Rambis as the interim head coach. The Knicks are 5-9 under Rambis, who Jackson said is "fully capable" of coaching the team next season.

Jackson, who is under contract for three more seasons, plans to continue building the Knicks' roster via free agency this summer as the team will have at least $18 million in cap space.

"We definitely (have) ideas about how to help this team. I don't think there are secrets or mysteries," Jackson said Friday, via ESPN.com. "We have agents calling us up all the time trying to sell their players to us, so I think we're going to do just fine in free agency."

Jackson won an NBA-record 11 titles as head coach of the Lakers (five) and Chicago Bulls (six).