Well before his team practiced, Phil Jackson arrived at the Lakers’ facility one day at 8:30 a.m., believing his early film preparation would provide a sturdy foundation in the long march toward an NBA championship.

But the former Lakers coach discovered he was wrong as soon as he pulled into the parking lot. Then, Jackson spotted Kobe Bryant sleeping in his car. The Lakers’ star had just completed a workout that started at 6 a.m. And Bryant needed an efficient way to rest before practice without returning to his Newport Beach residence.

“I had to respect the dedication he played basketball with and the desire he had,” said Jackson, who is now the New York Knicks’ president. “Those moments brought us together.”

Those moments also helped bring Bryant and Jackson together to five NBA championship runs, which will serve as a backdrop when the Lakers (14-52) host the New York Knicks (27-40) on Sunday at Staples Center. But there were also moments when Bryant and Jackson seemed far apart, providing a rite of passage in which both parties overcame past differences toward building a sturdy alliance, so sturdy that Bryant admitted Jackson has forever impacted him both on and off the court.

“His philosophy of the game and philosophy on life is something I’ve adopted,” Bryant said. “I carry it with me.”

Sources of contention

Bryant’s first three NBA seasons showed both steady progress and generated a loud buzz about his potential. But that did not assuage his frustrations with a conservative role and early playoff exits.

Hence, Bryant’s reaction toward the Lakers hiring of Jackson in 1999 seemed natural after Jackson had coached the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, toward six NBA titles.

“Kobe was at a time in his career with coaches and myself included where he was going to be open-minded and listening to a coach that obviously had tremendous success,” said Knicks interim coach Kurt Rambis, who Jackson both replaced and later hired him a key assistant. “He respected Phil. He respected what Michael did in Chicago and felt he could replicate that here in Los Angeles.”

That storyline eventually played out, yet the journey hardly seemed simple.

Jackson soon struggled to find a balance between melding Bryant’s superior scoring into his triangle offense to promote team play.

“There were times where the resistance of Kobe trying to take over a ballgame and doing the things he likes to do interfered with the business of the basketball going on on the floor,” Jackson said. “There was a little contention going on.”

During one of his first film sessions with Bryant, Jackson quickly learned about Bryant’s hope to become the team’s captain. But Jackson also discovered that Bryant struggled in reaching his teammates.

“I said, ‘How do you relate your teammates?’ ” Jackson recalled. “He said, ‘I don’t. I don’t go out with them. I don’t eat with them. They’re all interested in cars, girls and rap or whatever else.’ I said, ‘That’s not going to work out very well then.’ ”

Cleveland interim coach Tyronn Lue, who played with the Lakers from 1998 to 2001, thought things worked out very well with how Jackson criticized Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal “the hardest” so “all the other guys fell in line.” Yet, Bryant believed Jackson showed more favoritism toward O’Neal than Bryant because of O’Neal’s popularity in the locker room.

“He had to appease the big fella,” Bryant said. “In doing that, a lot of times I was road kill.”

The Lakers still won three consecutive NBA championships amid the push-and-pull Bryant experienced under Jackson. But after losing to Detroit in the 2004 NBA Finals, the Lakers traded O’Neal, parted ways with Jackson and retained Bryant.

“If they were able to keep it together, that team would have been a real dynasty,” said Knicks assistant Jim Cleamons, a former Jackson assistant. “They would’ve had four or five more championships.”

A reunion

The Lakers eventually got Bryant and Jackson back together after bringing the coach back for the 2005-06 season following Rudy Tomjanovich’s resignation. But there still marked potential lingering issues, including Jackson calling Bryant “uncoachable” and sharing intimate conversations in a memoir.

“Immediately, I went to Kobe and I said, ‘What’s going to go on here if I come back to this team?’ ” Jackson said. “He said, ‘I don’t have any problem.’ We developed a much closer relationship.”

That apparently happened without either party addressing in depth what Jackson wrote in his book. Bryant said they “joke harshly” in casual settings about Jackson’s comments. But they only mentioned it briefly in a phone conversation without any apologies.

“I’m not the type that even wants an ‘I’m sorry.’ I feel insulted if you tell me, ‘I’m sorry,’ ” Bryant said. “That suggests I was affected by the comment in the first place, which I wasn’t. I’m not big on giving ‘I’m sorry’s’ either.”

Instead, Bryant remains big on winning.

That did not happen right away amid two consecutive first-round playoff exits in 2006 and 2007, which prompted Bryant to request a trade. But the Lakers eventually acquired Pau Gasol in 2008 and won two NBA titles out of three Finals appearances.

“They were made for each other,” Lakers forward Metta World Peace said of Bryant and Jackson. “You felt like everything was OK with Phil at the controls and Kobe out there producing every single night.”

Bryant and Jackson work mostly in tandem in various ways.

Bryant recalled that he and Jackson often called out various reads in the triangle offense at the same time during practice and games. Jackson became encouraged. Bryant became more willing to read what he called “esoteric books.” Bryant appreciated Jackson’s coaching tactics more and often sat with him on the team plane and peppered him with questions. And Bryant spent part of his offseasons going fly fishing with Jackson.

“He has a great knack for bringing guys together, because his message is always the same,” Bryant said of Jackson. “He’s not a rah-rah guy. Rah-rah coaches lose the attention of the team quickly because they’re always trying to pump guys up. He doesn’t do that. He focuses on execution, the triangle offense and us playing as a unit.”

A bond

Since then, Jackson explained to Bryant in a half serious and half-joking manner why he did not want to coach him during the tail end of his career.

“ ‘I never want to see you or have to coach you when you’re at this stage of going out,’ ” Jackson recalled saying. “ ‘It could be such a difficult time not being able to play at the level you want to and not having a team that is competitive.’ ”

But Bryant has stayed in touch with Jackson, who advised him this year “break the season up into sections.” Bryant also has adopted Jackson’s daily ritual of meditation.

“He’s done it gracefully. He’s been appreciated by the fans,” Jackson said. “Kobe’s always been one that has thrived on a vitriolic fan relationship where he is the guy that comes into town and everybody boos. But he’s turned that around this year, and it’s nice to see.”

It will also become nice for both parties to see each other on Sunday for Bryant’s last game, bringing full circle how their relationship flourished through both the good and the bad.

Quote box: “His philosophy of the game and philosophy on life is something I’ve adopted, I carry it with me.” – Lakers guard Kobe Bryant on former Knicks president and Lakers coach Phil Jackson