Coach Phil Jackson–who hung on the coattails of stars he never recruited to capture nine NBA titles–must take the blame for the shameful collapse. Since inheriting Michael Jordan in Chicago and Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, Jackson made it clear that his vision isn’t for the long-term. The Zen master chased championships without a direction for the future, adopting a basically here-and-now philosophy.
Don’t count on Jackson for rebuilding. Why do you think he’s kept Rick Fox, Robert Horry, and Brian Shaw–all in their 30s–in the lineup? They’re certainly not components for a team of the future. In the offseason, he brought in another veteran Tracy Murray, 31, who played only 31 games and didn’t make the playoff roster because of an injury.
Let’s face it. Jackson owes his success to four Jerrys, whether he admits it or not. Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause were the architects of the Chicago dynasty in the Jordan era. Jerry Buss and Jerry West brought Shaq and Kobe to Tinseltown before Jackson moved in.
When Jordan sat out the 1994 season to play baseball, it was no coincidence that the Bulls didn’t win the title despite Jackson’s presence on the bench. And even when his Airness came back with 17 games left in the 1995 campaign, Jackson still couldn’t deliver a championship because Jordan wasn’t at full strength.
Curiously, Jackson burned his bridges with four of the three Jerrys. He didn’t relish sharing the limelight with Reinsdorf and Krause. And in L.A., he ran West out of the picture–with a little help from the boss’ daughter Jeanie.
Jackson tried to ride the Shaq-Kobe train as far as it could go without thinking of the future. When Shaq sat out the first 12 games of the regular season, the Lakers stumbled to a 3-9 record. Obviously, Shaq means a lot more to the team than Kobe who led the team in scoring in each game that the Big Aristotle missed.
If Kobe thought he could win the MVP trophy by doing his best Jordan impersonation, he was sadly mistaken. Kobe averaged a career-high 30 points a game in the regular season and 32.1 in the playoffs. But the Lakers couldn’t even crack the top four in the Western Conference and stumbled out of the playoffs in the second round.
Losing to San Antonio at home in their last game of the season will be difficult for the Lakers to live down. It’ll take a while before the Showtime fans get over the shock. And L.A. lost miserably, bowing to the Spurs by 28 points in the Game 6 clincher of their series. For the record, the rout was the largest playoff loss by a defending NBA champion and the second worst playoff loss in Lakers history. The nightmare that ended the fabled Bling-Bling Dynasty will haunt the Lakers forever.
Clearly, the Lakers were burned out in Game 6. They came close to pulling off an upset in Game 5 at San Antonio–Horry’s triple at the buzzer failed to hit the mark. In the fourth period of Game 6, the Lakers lost their legs as they crumbled down the stretch. The Spurs outscored the Lakers, 32-18, in the final 12 minutes to close out the series. To prove the lack of depth in the Lakers’ bench, Medvedenko logged 27 minutes and Jannero Pargo 21 in Game 6.
The boxscores in the Lakers’ last game once more reflected the imbalance of their offense–something that became increasingly evident during the season, something that Jackson failed to address. Shaq scored 31 and Kobe, 20. Stanislav Medvedenko was the only other Laker in twin digits with 12 and that was by accident because the Ukranian hit at a 4.4 clip in the regular season. Derek Fisher, 28, shot only six points–he looked old trying to keep pace with the Spurs’ 21-year-old Tony Parker. Horry, 32, tallied only two points. Shaw, 37, was scoreless. Fisher, Horry, and Shaw were a combined 3-of-14 from the field. Devean George, inserted in the starting lineup after Fox was injured early in the playoffs, chipped in seven points on 3-of-7 from the floor.
In sum, Shaq and Kobe took 40 of the Lakers’ 80 shots and hit 51 of their 82 points. The firepower support was sorely lacking.
L.A. won 50 games this past regular season–less than when Del Harris coached the Lakers in 1996, 1997, and 1998–less than any of the previous three years. That should be a wake-up call for Buss.
A personnel overhaul is imminent. If the Lakers are to bounce back, Jackson’s got to start thinking beyond Shaq and Kobe. Are Pargo, Kareem Rush, and Mark Madsen worth keeping? Is it the end of the road for Horry, Shaw, and Fox?
In 82 regular season and 12 playoff games, either Kobe or Shaq led the Lakers in scoring–the only exception was when George netted 21 in a 108-99 win over Dallas last April 8. That’s how skewed the offense was.
Scottie Pippen is shopping around for a new team. The word is he’s interested in returning to Chicago. Karl Malone is threatening to leave Utah and L.A. appears to be an option. But Jackson shouldn’t just pursue a quick-fix, particularly as Tex Winter is retiring. Pippen, 37, and Malone, 39, are in the twilight of their careers–they won’t be part of the Lakers’ long-term vision.
Surely, the Lakers need a jolt. Trading Kobe to Philadelphia for Allen Iverson would be a step in the right direction. Fisher and George could be packaged in a trade for a slasher, someone like a Corey Maggette or a James Posey. The Lakers could also use a scoring power forward to help out Shaq off the boards, someone like a Malone or a Danny Fortson. Fitting the pieces in the puzzle under the salary cap would be a problem but if Buss doesn’t mind paying the luxury tax for a championship team, he should just bite the bullet.
And Jackson’s fate? If he starts thinking less of himself and more of the team, maybe Buss should give him another chance–with Jeanie’s blessings, of course.