A short time passed after the Lakers won and celebrated the 2010 title until Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher wrote to Phil Jackson to continue one more season and thus achieve another three-peat. It was the only language that the Zen Master had spoken since he arrived in the NBA, managing to win twice with the Bulls and once with the Lakers. In his new stage in Los Angeles, two new rings shone in their showcases to achieve a total of 11, a record that no coach has ever reached and that was not to the taste of Red Auerbach, who died in 2010 and who won nine with the Bill Russell’s Celtics. That didn’t matter to Jackson, who surpassed that figure in 2009 and increased it the following year. At 64 years old, with hip operations, many health problems and little communication with the franchise management, Jerry Buss at the helm, the legendary coach was considering retirement more than ever. The travel was exhausting for him, as was the unstoppable pace of the NBA, with constant press conferences and enormous exposure.
But he continued. It was, perhaps, at the request of Kobe and Fisher. Or because of his own ego, which forced him to leave as he had always been, winning that fourth triplet that never came, but that did not change his legacy in any way. An unfathomable one: Michael Jordan’s mentor, he earned the respect of His Airness in the Bulls after the dismissal of Doug Collins, with whom the shooting guard never agreed. With Tex Winter, maker of the offensive triangle, always at his side, Jackson developed an extraordinary, mystical and involving personality that was noticed in everything: to handle complicated personalities (Jordan, Kobe, Dennis Rodman…), communicate with the press inside of a fine irony that occasionally turned into sarcasm, developing an unbreakable aura with which to protest referees or demand from managers; and even spent the last part of his career barely getting off the bench, taking to the extreme a practice in managing games that has never been imitated again and that gave him control of the situation that no one has ever had.
Jackson, who put this last maneuver into practice because of his difficulty standing for long periods of time, survived it all. To Jordan’s first retirement, the open war with Jerry Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf in the Bulls (General Manager and owner), the shooting guard’s second retirement, the tumultuous relationship between Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal or the reconstruction of a talented team questionable surrounding the Black Mamba when the center headed to the Heat and the coach left hiding, something he did as a threat to a retirement that never took place. Perhaps that’s why the veteran coach, who was on his way to 65 at the time, thought he could come out of that unscathed too. Another season with the base of the squad intact, led by Kobe who was the best player in the world at the time. All this, in a context in which the NBA lived from a narrative that later became the main one, with LeBron James exercising his controversy The Decision and leaving his native Ohio to head to a dream Heat team in Florida.
A bumpy season
It could not be. In January, Jackson assured that it would be his last season and that this time he was not going to reconsider. Kobe, who had to play 82, 82 and 73 games in the previous three years, all of them ending in the Finals, had played in the last playoffs with a fractured index finger on his right hand and started out scattered. He did not miss a single game, but Jackson wanted to regulate him (he played 33.9 minutes on average, his lowest figure since the sophomore season), respected his leg problems and even allowed him not to attend some training sessions, which caused him to leave. partially disconnect from the equipment. This allowed Pau to start like a rocket: 22 points and 12 rebounds on average in the first 15 games, with a balance of 13-2 for the Angelenos. The Spaniard was then even considered for the MVP pools, but he gradually lowered his level until his decline became evident in the playoffs, where he disappeared completely, with personal problems never revealed in the background and always denied rumors of a fight between him and Kobe. . In one way or another, that beginning was always a mirage.
The problems soon began to become louder and louder: Fisher, almost 37 years old, had increasingly worse blocks and suffered a lot against versatile and versatile point guards, who then dominated the League (Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul, Deron Williams… .) and the team’s chemistry was frayed after the departure of members like Sasha Vujacic, who put in a lot of effort and perseverance, especially in training. Kobe’s disconnection from the rest of the squad was palpable and Jackson was tired. What’s more, it was later revealed that he went to the playoffs with prostate cancer from which he recovered during his retirement, and he looked older and more fatigued than his age showed. His aura remained impassive, as did his disposition, but the feeling was that the Lakers were stumbling and that the brilliance of the last three years was over.
From March 12 to April 1, the Lakers had nine consecutive victories, which were also 17 in the last 18 games, their best moment of the season. Immediately, the worst came: five straight losses and victories against the Spurs and Kings to end up scratching second place in the Western Conference, with a misleading 57 games won and tied with the Mavericks. The end of the regular season was also not very in line with what Jackson wanted from his teams, since the coach was in favor of not letting go in April and arriving in the best possible shape to the playoffs for the title, his specialty. Of course, it was the 20th positive record in 20 seasons on the bench for him, in which he also added 15 wins over 55, 17 wins over 50, four wins over 60 and one, 1995-96. , with 72, the historical record that only the Warriors could surpass in their particular dynasty, the last one the NBA has seen in its long history.
To all this, Kobe finished with 25.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists, but finishing in the Best Quintet and the Best Defensive Quintet simultaneously; Yes, for the last time in his career. Pau, in the Second Best Quintet and in his most outstanding season in the Lakers, would go to 18.8 + 10.2. Lamar Odom, Best Sixth Man and bordering on the All Star he never attended, reached 14.4 and 8.8, in his last competitive season that would not move to the playoffs before his separation from Khloe Kardashian and the maelstrom of his unfortunate relationship with cocaine. And Binmu would go to 11.3+9.4, with many injuries but beginning to emerge as a pure center, which in subsequent years would distance Pau from the post. The rest, the mayor, (Ron Artest, Shannon Brown, Fisher, the newcomer Steve Blake or another like Matt Barnes) would have their peaks, but none was the solution in a playoffs in which Kobe and Pau did not stand out. And that, therefore, the Lakers would not flow. Something that was soon seen.
The end of a myth
The Lakers beat Chris Paul’s Hornets (in New Orleans), losing the second and third games but surviving the series (4-2), playing two last games that convinced the delusional, but were a harsh mirage as it were. what we saw next. The Mavericks were eagerly waiting: Dirk Nowitzki was looking for redemption alongside Jason Terry, who had a Remember 06 tattoo in relation to the final lost five years earlier against the Heat. A balanced team, well coached by Rick Carlisle and with all the weapons to be champion: Caron Butler was injured during the season, but there were Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, DeShawn Stephenson and Tyson Chandler, with a bench that included a JJ Barea who gave Fisher a lot of problems and an old acquaintance like Pedraj Stojakovic. It’s not that the squad, player by player, was better. Simply, the desire was different. And the moment of the project, one in decline and the other ideal, too.
With leads that were close to twenty, the Lakers fell in the first game (96-98), despite Kobe’s 36 points. In the second they were without answers (81-93). In the third, the last with options, they rowed to die on the shore (98-92). And the last was the confirmation of the disaster: 122-86 and a beating for the annals with which to say goodbye to the project. The Angelenos scored 16, 19, 20 and 24 points in each of the last four quarters. Pau did not exceed 20 points in the entire playoffs and averaged 12.5 against the Texans, with loud fights with Kobe and Phil Jackson on the bench, who demanded more defensive effort from him. He lost the fight with Nowitzki clearly: the German had 25.3 points and 9.3 rebounds, 57.4% in field goals, 72.7% in triples (spectacular) and an almost immaculate 15 of 16 in free throws, very few personal visits thanks to the lazy defense he received. Kobe, with a 23.3 average, was not much luckier. The Lakers shot 42.2% during the series and 19.7% on three-pointers. The miracle is that they competed in at least two games. It was a lot.
It was the end of Phil Jackson. The previous summer, Jerry Buss already told him that the owners were pushing hard so that there would not be another lockout (which would come the following season), a clear hint that the salary had to be lowered (he was the highest paid coach in the NBA), one of the many reasons for the estrangement with the Doctor who later also went with his daughter and now ex-partner Jeannie. The coach’s children went to the last game in Dallas with the excuse that it was the last, something his father denied until the evidence prevailed. In 2012-13, after the dismissal of Mike Brown, there were rumors of his return, but the leaks about his extravagant requests (an exorbitant salary, not going on trips…) allowed the Lakers to stab him, who granted him two days for the decision to be made and Mike D’Antoni was signed before receiving a response, something the Zen Master found out about through the media. It was the last time his name was heard to return. Today, approaching 79 years old, it is impossible. In his legacy there remain 11 rings, 13 Finals, countless records, a captivating personality and an ending to be forgotten. The worst possible.
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2024-03-27 13:18:42
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