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Re: o/t-nba finals thread-lakers vs magic
Phil Jackson is not thinking about 10 rings.
He's thinking about two. The two that got away, the first to Detroit in 2004 and the second to Boston in 2008. He's thinking about how no one took the Pistons seriously and how dangerous that made them. He's thinking about how he couldn't get his players to truly understand, prepare for and match the intensity of the Celtics' defense. He's thinking about losing, about the sting it left, about the way it lingers even now. He's thinking about surviving it, replacing it, pushing past it.
He's thinking about one. This one. Right here and now. The one still to be fought for and chased down. The one to be won. The one to be celebrated and savored, should it come. The one that says, Hot damn, look what we're capable of, even with a baby-faced center and a silvered-hair coach. The one that justifies the time and sacrifice. The one that affirms the faith. The one that can come, with luck, when players connect. The only one there is.
This is truely what I love about Jackson. Despite all his successes the most successful coach in American Professional Sports history, he is still thinking about those two that literally got away. As a Lakers fan, I will never forget the sting of those two, but then again, I will never forget the sting of 91 or 89 when the Lakers were without the services of the greatest point guard in professional basketball history and they also lost their starting shooting guard. As well as the others that I can remember in the early to mid 80's. After all, for all the Lakers successes, 15 NBA Titles, there have also been 15 NBA championship defeats.
Despite all of my own personal successes in life, not certainly on any grand stage mind you, it is still the failures as few as they have been professionally that eat away at me. I guess we would not be human if that was not the case.
Phil Jackson is not thinking about 10 rings.
He's thinking about two. The two that got away, the first to Detroit in 2004 and the second to Boston in 2008. He's thinking about how no one took the Pistons seriously and how dangerous that made them. He's thinking about how he couldn't get his players to truly understand, prepare for and match the intensity of the Celtics' defense. He's thinking about losing, about the sting it left, about the way it lingers even now. He's thinking about surviving it, replacing it, pushing past it.
He's thinking about one. This one. Right here and now. The one still to be fought for and chased down. The one to be won. The one to be celebrated and savored, should it come. The one that says, Hot damn, look what we're capable of, even with a baby-faced center and a silvered-hair coach. The one that justifies the time and sacrifice. The one that affirms the faith. The one that can come, with luck, when players connect. The only one there is.
This is truely what I love about Jackson. Despite all his successes the most successful coach in American Professional Sports history, he is still thinking about those two that literally got away. As a Lakers fan, I will never forget the sting of those two, but then again, I will never forget the sting of 91 or 89 when the Lakers were without the services of the greatest point guard in professional basketball history and they also lost their starting shooting guard. As well as the others that I can remember in the early to mid 80's. After all, for all the Lakers successes, 15 NBA Titles, there have also been 15 NBA championship defeats.
Despite all of my own personal successes in life, not certainly on any grand stage mind you, it is still the failures as few as they have been professionally that eat away at me. I guess we would not be human if that was not the case.
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