So, apparently, I was a bit quick off the draw to label the Seven Seconds or Less era dead and gone. Quite the opposite has happened in fact as it is literally being resurrected in Los Angeles. Steve Nash and Mike D’Antoni are now reunited in Lakers Purple and Gold.
Seriously, go back in time to the mid-aughts when Nash was in the midst of back-to-back MVP seasons and D’Antoni was the Coach of the Year. The Suns were the top team in the western conference and a conference finalist two years running. Back in that time, when SSOL was at the height of its powers, who would have believed that both of them would be in Los Angeles trying to win a championship with Kobe Bryant?
And yet, here we are.
There has been plenty written and said about Phil Jackson—how he was slighted, perhaps intentionally, by Lakers brass who gave him the impression that he would have until Monday to make a decision. In technical fairness, the Lakers did give him until Monday, Mitch Kupchak calling Jackson at midnight (Monday morning) to let him know that the Lakers had gone in a different direction.
Of course, the common thought would be Monday when the sun is shining. But, Jackson should have known better—he is anything but common.
Which, in and of itself is a bit telling. Phil and his agent overshot their position, and now have missed the opportunity.
The beauty of Jim Buss and by extension the Lakers, is that they are in the position of power. Howard, Nash, Bryant and Gasol ensure that. Jackson will most likely never get a chance to coach a team of this stature again (keeping fully in mind what I just wrote about D’Antoni and Nash).
Notice the difference in reaction. Jackson was asked (first I might add) if he wanted to coach the Lakers. He informed them that he was strongly considering it. The Lakers asked D’Antoni the same question, and a half hour later D’Antoni finished signing the contract and was the new Lakers head coach.
All this talk about what Jackson was or wasn’t asking for, how much time he had or didn’t have, what his stake would or wouldn’t be in the Lakers if he took the job, how many road games he would go to or not, all misses the larger point.
The Lakers have four future Hall of Famers—more than any other team in the league—all of whom are at or near the heights of their greatness. What coach wouldn’t jump at the mere idea of this job?
After years toiling away with a New York roster ill-suited for his style of play, D’Antoni now fully appreciates the greatness of Nash. He got to witness the greatness of Bryant and Howard working with both during the Olympics. He understands the frustration and regret and bitterness that comes with not attaining his goal.
When the Lakers asked him, he jumped at the opportunity like a starving animal.
Buss made the right call no matter how much cache and credibility Jackson might have brought with him. Buss went with the guy who was hungry. And not just hungry, but starving. D’Antoni desperately wanted the Lakers job.
Buss and Kupchak played this the right way. I mean, if you’re going to deal with the Zen Master—and win—you have to be decisive and fast. Jackson was certainly caught off balance. He didn’t have any chance to spin his webs or plot his moves or do his Phil Jackson thing. He was asked, he was silent for 24 hours, he was left in the dust.
Say what you will about the Jim Buss era in Lakers basketball, but the man goes after what he wants. He wanted Dwight Howard. He got Dwight Howard. He wanted Steve Nash. Nash is in Purple and Gold.
While I still think the Mike Brown firing was a terrible idea and poorly executed—Lakers fans should take comfort in the knowledge that the younger Buss has a vision. Even more importantly, he is willing to change that vision if the situation calls for a change.
In the summer of 2011, with the lockout looming and the Lakers roster having been swept out of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks in embarrassing fashion, Brown was the man Buss wanted. With Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, Brown came to the Lakers with a San Antonio Spurs offense that was utilized with the Tim Duncan and David Robinson pairing and eventually won a pair of championships. Brown preached defense, an area the Lakers struggled with under Jackson the year before. No one was going to replace Jackson in any reasonable means, so the Lakers went with the uber nice, defensive-minded Brown who at the time owned the best active career winning percentage behind only Jackson and Greg Popovich.
I am of the belief that patience is what ultimately produces winning. I thought all the Lakers needed to do was be patient with the Princeton. That it would ultimately benefit them when the defenses are elite every night, and the pick-and-roll breaks down.
Once the Heat learned to be patient, learned to play as a team, they won it all. That said, the thing about patience, especially in pro sports, is that patience is often extremely expensive.
Remember, this is the last season the Lakers will pay a dollar-for-dollar penalty for exceeding the luxury-tax threshold. This season, their $99.2 million payroll will end up costing $128 million including taxes. Far and away the highest payroll in the league. With the new collective bargaining agreement punishing tax-payers even more heavily and getting more expensive the longer the team remains over the luxury-tax, this same team will cost Buss around $200 million next season.
Try being patient watching $128 million of your money play listless, boring, losing basketball.
The other thing about patience is that there are times you lose out to someone desperate, someone a bit reckless. The Oklahoma City Thunder have been the model of patience the last four seasons, a strategy that culminated in their first NBA Finals appearance last year.
But the Lakers got desperate. That desperation pushed them to get the league's best center as well as a two-time MVP point guard. Now, with the James Harden trade, the Thunder are no longer the favorites in the west.
Buss is desperate as well. He is desperate to separate himself from his father. He is desperate to prove himself worthy of taking on the Lakers franchise. He is desperate to win.
And while many have complained, if they would sit down and really look at what Buss has done, they'd realize how misguided their complaints really are.
Buss has brought in the most talented starting five the Lakers franchise has ever assembled. He is bank-rolling an NBA record-setting payroll. He just oversaw a franchise-altering $2 billion television deal. And his team was 1-11 (including preseason) and wasn’t too fun to watch despite having the most entertaining point guard since Magic Johnson on the team.
That’s why Brown had to go. Patience was never an option for this team.
It’s win now. Win at all costs. Win big.
It’s why Jackson’s slight hesitation cost him the job.
And it’s why D’Antoni, who has always tried to win at all costs (sometimes to the extreme detriment of his starters), is the right man for the job.
Forget that he doesn't coach defense. Forget the Lakers lack athletes. Forget the Lakers lack shooters (which I would argue against. Nash, Steve Blake, Chris Duhon, Antawn Jameson, Jodie Meeks, and a hot-from-3 Bryant is not awful. Even Metta World Peace can stroke it from the corner). Forget the Lakers are old.
Forget that D'Antoni's offense is far easier to learn than the Triangle. Or that it’s tailor-made for Nash. Or that it will make the Lakers weak bench look a lot stronger. Or that Bryant and Gasol will fit in nicely. Or that Howard has the potential to be even better than Amare Stoudemire as Nash’s pick-and-roll partner. Or that it might usher in Showtime Pt. Deux.
D’Antoni is the coach because that’s what Jim Buss wanted.
The sooner Lakers fans learn to embrace this new reality, the faster they'll be able to enjoy the sunny outlook.
No comments:
Post a Comment