Before we bury the Los Angeles Lakers — and it is a team that deserves to be buried — let’s take time to praise Phil Jackson, perhaps the greatest coach the NBA has ever seen, who appears to be calling it quits.
He may have been the best in the Continental Basketball Association, too. Don’t forget, Jackson got his start with the Albany Patroons, leading them to a CBA title in 1984.
The journey from Albany to Los Angeles included 11 NBA championships, six in Chicago and five with the Lakers.
Critics will say he won with the greatest players of those eras — Michael Jordan with the Bulls and then Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant with the Lakers.
But if you want proof of Jackson’s greatness, look to the end of Sunday’s 36-point loss to Dallas that completed the Mavericks’ sweep.
Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum revealed the kind of dysfunctional head cases they are, resorting to cheap shots and getting kicked out of the game. Ron Artest, with all due respect to the mental health profession, requires special handling to compete in the NBA, let alone on a championship level.
Yet Jackson — known as the “Zen Master” for his own unique school of thought — won an NBA championship with Odom, Bynum and Pau Gasol, who wilted like a “flor” (that’s Spanish for flower) in these playoffs, and then a second when Artest was added into the mix.
Consider how hard it must have been on a daily basis to get this core unit of talented but enigmatic players not only to function but to play well enough to win an NBA title.
Try to imagine the process it took to get this group to realize its potential day in and day out. You saw Sunday and in the reports that surfaced after the game who the Lakers really are — not two-time defending champions.
The most comparable resume to Jackson’s belongs to the great Red Auerbach, who won nine NBA championships as the architect and coach of the Boston Celtics.
But as they like to say now in the business, Bill Russell wasn’t walking through that door of the Lakers’ locker room. Neither were Bob Cousy, K.C. Jones, John Havlicek or Sam Jones.
Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest players of his era, did walk through that door for Los Angeles, and Jackson did have the benefit of having a player of his caliber leading these teams. But we have seen enough to believe Bryant himself is a head case and required special handling.
That’s not a trait unique to superstars, but mix that with the bunch of misfits and malcontents that Phil won titles with, and Buddha might not have had enough Zen to have accomplished this feat.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
