Writing the Pine

Photo Credit: Chris Carlson/AP

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers for winning the franchise’s 15th NBA Championship. This marks b’s fourth title reign and a milestone tenth championship for Phil Jackson. First off, this title for Phil should end any discussion about who the greatest coach in NBA history is. And while critics will attest his success to having coached the likes of Jordan, Pippen, Shaq, and Kobe, they need to also realize that Red Auerbach had the opportunity to coach Bill Russell in an era where teams got away with playing a 6′6 player at center and the amount of teams in the league then were not as high as the amount of teams in the league today. What also needs to be noted about Phil Jackson is that Pippen has managed no rings without Jackson (thanks in large part to Phil coaching in Los Angeles in 2000) and Shaq, as dominant of a force as he’s been throughout his career, has only managed just one ring without Jackson, not to mention on a team where he wasn’t even the best player.

Bottom line is that the job of a coach is to maximize the output of players and keep them motivated on a consistent basis. For Phil Jackson to win 10 championships in just 19 seasons of coaching proves that he’s maximized every bit of effort from all of his teams and players. Even more impressive for Phil is his body of work across all of the different teams and collection of players that he’s coached to reach this milestone. This last point is what cements his legacy and puts him at the top ahead of Auerbach. During his press conference after the Game 5 clincher, a question was asked to Phil about his thoughts on the development of this current Laker roster and the journey that it took for them to get to this point. In his response, Phil admitted that when he first made the decision to sign on as the Lakers coach again following his one year sabbatical that he didn’t anticipate that this team would win a championship during his tenure as coach, but rather he felt as though he could lay down the foundation and facilitate the process. Sure, the team is drastically different from the Laker team that landed itself in the lottery a few years back. However, for Jackson to build this team up to champions (championship contenders last year), it speaks wonders on the job that he’s done.

As for Kobe, much has been made about the need for him to win a ring without Shaq. Let me start off by saying that whether or not he won or would’ve ever won his fourth ring, Kobe has already cemented himself as a top 10 player in the history given the body of work that he’s already put out and the consistency that he’s delivered on a yearly basis in always being involved in the MVP discussion. Jerry West, although he’s stated that LeBron has surpassed Kobe, has come out and admitted that Kobe Bryant is the most skilled player in Laker history. Think about that for a second. The franchise has won 15 championships and yeah, that means that a lot of great players have put on the purple and gold. As bipolar as the fans and the media are towards Kobe Bryant, respect is deserved and you cannot deny his skill level and the impact that he has on his team, on the league, and eventually, the legacy he leaves on the game. There have been a lot of great players, players that have been named on the “50 Greatest Players of All-Time” list (which needs to be updated eventually) that have never won a title. For the Kobe critics out there, in the latter two championships of the Lakers three-peat, Kobe was just as important to his team as Shaq was. They complemented each other so well and there’s no way one could’ve won without the other. His place in history has been established and it can only get better for Kobe.

But having said that, how does this championship season help Kobe’s placement in history? At the very least, this pushes Kobe ahead of Shaq and Tim Duncan. While all three players each have four rings, Kobe’s skill and level of play ascends that of both Duncan and O’Neal as he has been viewed as the best player in the league for the past several years. He is still in his prime and looks to stay there for quite a while, whereas Duncan and Shaq appear to be on the downside of their careers. Had he not won his fourth ring, I think it would’ve been much harder to make this argument. In my eyes, it also pushes him ahead of Larry Bird. Bird only won three rings. And although Bird has won the MVP three times, it is hard to anoint him the best player of his generation, where in Kobe’s case, it wouldn’t be difficult to make the argument that he’s been the best player of the league for the past four years and counting. Besides, the MVP has become such an objective award that it’s become hard to put a lot of weight into it. In any event, this fourth ring, I believe, puts Kobe in the top 5 greatest players of all time. He is fifth on my list behind Jordan, Magic, Russell, and Kareem. Another ring would likely put him ahead of Kareem, but he would need win multiple rings beyond this season to put himself in my top 3 list. Right now, it’s looking like he’s in a great position to do so. For him to be this far up the list at this point in his career is amazing, especially since it’s unfair to compare him to these legends at this stage of career when there’s so much basketball left on his tank.

Finally, could we please put the “Who’s the best player in the league today” argument to rest already? Really, c’mon Nike! How dare you keep the Kobe and LeBron ads rolling during the Finals! The show be Kobe and will still be Kobe’s for the foreseeable future.