http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13092665p-13937549c.htm
NBA beat: Jackson can't resist lure of the limelight
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, June 19, 2005
He wasn't coming to Sacramento, period. Phil Jackson pretty much said as much during his televised news conference.
It was Los Angeles "or nothing." So, in effect, Dr. Zen jerked the NBA's collective chain.
Every wishful owner and general manager and star-struck fan blinded by all Jackson's championship bling was kept optimistic that he might even consider saving their ship. But, he reminded, it was the Lakers all the way, the allure of the richest contract in North American sports history and cleaning up the team winning out over anything else on the table.
And talk about ego-timing.
Funny how Jackson managed to work it right to the end. He was the major drawing card before Game 1 of the Finals (sorry, Will Smith) in an interview in which he said a whole lot of nothing. And the news conference introducing Jackson's L.A. return completely overshadowed the Detroit Pistons' Game 3 back-in-the-series triumph over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.
Jackson remaining in L.A. means the Kings' finances are in better order. A coach's salary doesn't count against a team's salary cap, but at $10 million per season, it's a steep price tag.
And to a man, Kings players supported their current coach, Rick Adelman, with all hands suggesting that more emphasis on defense and time with the returning core should be enough to thrust the Kings back into the company of the Western Conference elite again.
Zen's love for Sac
Some Kings fans appeared genuinely crushed that Jackson won't be coming. Others were still aghast the Kings even considered him in the first place.
Some didn't seem to care a bit - or even remember - that Jackson used to take great glee in torching their city, from calling fans "semi-civilized" to "redneck." He said sniffing dogs should have been in order after the Kings were especially giddy after a 2001 playoff series triumph over the Phoenix Suns.
And he barreled over the line of good taste even before that, in 2000, during a playoff series against the Kings. In trying to inspire his team, he put an image of Adelman next to Hitler on a video, prompting the Kings coach to say then, "I'm part German decent, and I don't think (Hitler) is the people I aspire to be compared to."
Said Jackson then: "Doesn't Rick know we call him 'Herr Adelman?' "
Phil pros and cons
There were many pros and cons of Jackson coming to Sacramento, although Kings guard Bobby Jackson said it was all rich "fiction" that the coach would even contemplate the team.
Jackson, the coach, could have compared angioplasty stories with Geoff Petrie, sure, but would his arrival have meant a loss of authority for the Kings president of basketball operations? The Maloofs positively adore Petrie. He has had a power struggle with no one. The Maloofs bestow complete confidence in the man who puts their team together, and they want him in Kings colors for the long haul (Petrie wouldn't engage in much Jackson talk when meeting the media for a state of the Kings address Thursday, saying, "it belongs to the ages - we move forward").
For all of Jackson's pedigree - the nine championship rings makes for heavy fingers - he's often arrogant, sometimes condescending and frequently difficult. It's always a red flag when the coach can't get along with his best players (his reunion with Kobe Bryant sets up a curious tug-of-war among egos again in L.A.).
Could Jackson have helped boost the Maloofs' new arena push? Perhaps.
And Jackson has proven that for all his coaching gifts, he can't win championships without Hall of Fame talent, from Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in Chicago to Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal in Los Angeles. Who on the Kings is a Hall of Famer? And before blurting out Mike Bibby's name, remember he is still waiting to make his first All-Star Game.
Red on Zen
Red Auerbach, the cranky if refreshing 87-year-old ex-Boston Celtics coaching great, scoffed at the very notion that Jackson returned to coaching to pursue titles alone. It just so happens that Jackson trails Red by one for most NBA titles collected.
"It's done for one reason - the money. It's as simple as that," Auerbach told USA Today. "Ten million dollars a year? What's all this ... about 'Oh, I want to make up with Kobe,' and 'I want to go back to the Coast.' It's a lot of baloney. If the Knicks offered him $12 million, he'd be in New York."
Auerbach wonders about the relationship between Bryant and Jackson, particularly after Phil trashed Kobe in his best-selling book.
"Look, when a guy writes a book and exposes different things, that means he doesn't give a damn," Auerbach said. "Does he gain pleasure knocking the hell out of certain people? No, he's interested in the money."
Will Jackson win a 10th title, ever?
"I hope not," Auerbach said.
0-2 Finals hopes
If Detroit somehow takes the NBA title, it would become just the second team in Finals history to recover from an 0-2 hole.
The Portland Trail Blazers pulled off the feat in 1977 as a first-time playoff team that came together beautifully behind Bill Walton and a supporting cast that could move without the ball, pass and defend. The Trail Blazers lost Games 1 and 2 in Philadelphia, to a star-studded 76ers group headed by Julius Erving, then won the next four with Walton playing perhaps the best ball of his career.
The Blazers steamed to a 50-10 start the next season before Walton's feet started to fail him. His relationship with the team also became fractured, ending that era.
Baseline jumpers
* San Antonio Spurs guard Brent Barry was 3 when his famous father, Rick, steered the Golden State Warriors to the 1975 NBA championship, but he doesn't remember any of it, saying, "I was probably chewing on a Hot Wheel or something."
* When asked if the emphasis on defense includes the Kings' Big Three of Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic and Brad Miller, Geoff Petrie offered an immediate and emphatic, "Yes."
* Petrie, he of the recent angioplasty, on the wear and tear he endured last season, "First of all, I didn't know I had any health issues. It just showed up at the doorstep."
* Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said there was no way he would watch the NBA Finals on TV, in part because, "I know Detroit will cry on every call in the entire series."
* It's amazing that two of the best defenders this decade - San Antonio's Bruce Bowen and Detroit's Ben Wallace - went undrafted and bounced around during their early NBA days. Talk about maturing nicely.
* The reason Rip Hamilton still wears the clear protective mask after all this time, after two nose surgeries in the 2003-04 season, is clear, according to Detroit trainer Mike Abdenour, "If he breaks the nose again, the reconstructive surgery he's going to have isn't going to be pleasant and isn't going to be pretty."
* With Andrew Toney joining Maurice Cheeks on the Philadelphia bench, the 76ers have the best alumni backcourt.
* Patrick Dennehy, shot to death by a Baylor basketball teammate two years ago, grew up in the Bay Area as a Kings fan, saying his dream was to be drafted by the franchise.
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
NOTE FROM VF21: I bolded the items above, not the author.
NBA beat: Jackson can't resist lure of the limelight
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, June 19, 2005
He wasn't coming to Sacramento, period. Phil Jackson pretty much said as much during his televised news conference.
It was Los Angeles "or nothing." So, in effect, Dr. Zen jerked the NBA's collective chain.
Every wishful owner and general manager and star-struck fan blinded by all Jackson's championship bling was kept optimistic that he might even consider saving their ship. But, he reminded, it was the Lakers all the way, the allure of the richest contract in North American sports history and cleaning up the team winning out over anything else on the table.
And talk about ego-timing.
Funny how Jackson managed to work it right to the end. He was the major drawing card before Game 1 of the Finals (sorry, Will Smith) in an interview in which he said a whole lot of nothing. And the news conference introducing Jackson's L.A. return completely overshadowed the Detroit Pistons' Game 3 back-in-the-series triumph over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night.
Jackson remaining in L.A. means the Kings' finances are in better order. A coach's salary doesn't count against a team's salary cap, but at $10 million per season, it's a steep price tag.
And to a man, Kings players supported their current coach, Rick Adelman, with all hands suggesting that more emphasis on defense and time with the returning core should be enough to thrust the Kings back into the company of the Western Conference elite again.
Zen's love for Sac
Some Kings fans appeared genuinely crushed that Jackson won't be coming. Others were still aghast the Kings even considered him in the first place.
Some didn't seem to care a bit - or even remember - that Jackson used to take great glee in torching their city, from calling fans "semi-civilized" to "redneck." He said sniffing dogs should have been in order after the Kings were especially giddy after a 2001 playoff series triumph over the Phoenix Suns.
And he barreled over the line of good taste even before that, in 2000, during a playoff series against the Kings. In trying to inspire his team, he put an image of Adelman next to Hitler on a video, prompting the Kings coach to say then, "I'm part German decent, and I don't think (Hitler) is the people I aspire to be compared to."
Said Jackson then: "Doesn't Rick know we call him 'Herr Adelman?' "
Phil pros and cons
There were many pros and cons of Jackson coming to Sacramento, although Kings guard Bobby Jackson said it was all rich "fiction" that the coach would even contemplate the team.
Jackson, the coach, could have compared angioplasty stories with Geoff Petrie, sure, but would his arrival have meant a loss of authority for the Kings president of basketball operations? The Maloofs positively adore Petrie. He has had a power struggle with no one. The Maloofs bestow complete confidence in the man who puts their team together, and they want him in Kings colors for the long haul (Petrie wouldn't engage in much Jackson talk when meeting the media for a state of the Kings address Thursday, saying, "it belongs to the ages - we move forward").
For all of Jackson's pedigree - the nine championship rings makes for heavy fingers - he's often arrogant, sometimes condescending and frequently difficult. It's always a red flag when the coach can't get along with his best players (his reunion with Kobe Bryant sets up a curious tug-of-war among egos again in L.A.).
Could Jackson have helped boost the Maloofs' new arena push? Perhaps.
And Jackson has proven that for all his coaching gifts, he can't win championships without Hall of Fame talent, from Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in Chicago to Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal in Los Angeles. Who on the Kings is a Hall of Famer? And before blurting out Mike Bibby's name, remember he is still waiting to make his first All-Star Game.
Red on Zen
Red Auerbach, the cranky if refreshing 87-year-old ex-Boston Celtics coaching great, scoffed at the very notion that Jackson returned to coaching to pursue titles alone. It just so happens that Jackson trails Red by one for most NBA titles collected.
"It's done for one reason - the money. It's as simple as that," Auerbach told USA Today. "Ten million dollars a year? What's all this ... about 'Oh, I want to make up with Kobe,' and 'I want to go back to the Coast.' It's a lot of baloney. If the Knicks offered him $12 million, he'd be in New York."
Auerbach wonders about the relationship between Bryant and Jackson, particularly after Phil trashed Kobe in his best-selling book.
"Look, when a guy writes a book and exposes different things, that means he doesn't give a damn," Auerbach said. "Does he gain pleasure knocking the hell out of certain people? No, he's interested in the money."
Will Jackson win a 10th title, ever?
"I hope not," Auerbach said.
0-2 Finals hopes
If Detroit somehow takes the NBA title, it would become just the second team in Finals history to recover from an 0-2 hole.
The Portland Trail Blazers pulled off the feat in 1977 as a first-time playoff team that came together beautifully behind Bill Walton and a supporting cast that could move without the ball, pass and defend. The Trail Blazers lost Games 1 and 2 in Philadelphia, to a star-studded 76ers group headed by Julius Erving, then won the next four with Walton playing perhaps the best ball of his career.
The Blazers steamed to a 50-10 start the next season before Walton's feet started to fail him. His relationship with the team also became fractured, ending that era.
Baseline jumpers
* San Antonio Spurs guard Brent Barry was 3 when his famous father, Rick, steered the Golden State Warriors to the 1975 NBA championship, but he doesn't remember any of it, saying, "I was probably chewing on a Hot Wheel or something."
* When asked if the emphasis on defense includes the Kings' Big Three of Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic and Brad Miller, Geoff Petrie offered an immediate and emphatic, "Yes."
* Petrie, he of the recent angioplasty, on the wear and tear he endured last season, "First of all, I didn't know I had any health issues. It just showed up at the doorstep."
* Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said there was no way he would watch the NBA Finals on TV, in part because, "I know Detroit will cry on every call in the entire series."
* It's amazing that two of the best defenders this decade - San Antonio's Bruce Bowen and Detroit's Ben Wallace - went undrafted and bounced around during their early NBA days. Talk about maturing nicely.
* The reason Rip Hamilton still wears the clear protective mask after all this time, after two nose surgeries in the 2003-04 season, is clear, according to Detroit trainer Mike Abdenour, "If he breaks the nose again, the reconstructive surgery he's going to have isn't going to be pleasant and isn't going to be pretty."
* With Andrew Toney joining Maurice Cheeks on the Philadelphia bench, the 76ers have the best alumni backcourt.
* Patrick Dennehy, shot to death by a Baylor basketball teammate two years ago, grew up in the Bay Area as a Kings fan, saying his dream was to be drafted by the franchise.
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
NOTE FROM VF21: I bolded the items above, not the author.
