Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson bids adieu
It seems that the sun has finally set on a glittering career.
After his team’s loss against the Dallas Mavericks in game-4, Phil Jackson sat down to talk about the game. The question everyone wanted to ask him though had nothing to do with the game; it had to do with him.
Is this the end of Phil Jackson? Is he retiring at the end of the season? Had he just coached his last game in professional basketball?
There had been speculations about it all year. There were speculations about it before the game and when the Los Angeles Lakers finally lost the series, the speculations took the shape of expectations.
The reporters don’t beat around the bush, Jackson does. He was asked directly if he had just coached his final game. In response, Jackson talked about his reasons for coming back this season, the thrill of chasing a ridiculous
4th three-peat, going to the NBA finals the last three years and the difficulties of achieving that feat again this year. He never did answer the question posed. So the reporter asked again, "Was this your final game?"
The wily old coach responded with a grin, "I haven't answered that, have I?"
And added assertively, "And you're not going to force me to answer it,"
However he did give it away after that, "But, yes, all my hopes and aspirations are is this is the final game that I'll coach. This has been a wonderful run”
Quite a run indeed.
To say that Phil Jackson has had a legendary career as coach in the NBA would be an understatement. Phil Jackson has achieved what no other man had achieved before him, and probably no other man will in future. His two three-peats
with the Chicago Bulls, where he coached the best player basketball has ever known, is beyond the dreams of even the most aspiring trainers. But, that wasn’t enough for Phil Jackson. He then took over a Los Angeles Lakers team that had the likes of Shaquille
O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to three consecutive NBA world championship titles. To top it off, he added another two titles with the Lakers in the last 2 years.
His years in the game have seen him always in the spotlight, mostly for good reasons, but Phil has had his run-ins with the authorities. His latest came with criticism of the officiating in the Western Conference semi-finals series
against the Mavs, for which he was fined $35,000. Phil touched on the subject, saying he didn’t appreciate being “chased down the freeway by them” and added that with his impending retirement, at least he won’t have to deal with these issues, “You won't be
able to kick this guy around any more”
Jackson has flirted with retirement before, only to come back with more hunger in his belly, but this time things seem different, final. Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak seems to agree,
"I think this is it," Kupchak told reporters after the loss Sunday. "We'll sit down and talk, but I've gotten no indication that he won't retire.”
The team also senses that this is the end for Jackson, and as such remarked about the time spent playing under the best coach in basketball history,
"Phil ... it's tough for me to put into words what he's done for me," Kobe Bryant said. "I grew up under him”
Derek Fisher, another one who has played under Phil Jackson for numerous years added, "As a group, the next 12, 24, 36 hours go by and we're able to reflect on the fact that we may have played for the best coach in professional
basketball for the last time, I'm sure it will be tough to swallow for everybody,"
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