An End of An Era

Jackson leaves behind an unmatchable legacy. 

The Los Angeles Lakers reign as the two-time defending NBA champions came to a close Sunday afternoon in Dallas after an embarrassing and ugly loss. Los Angeles lost by 36 points marking the second worse loss in their franchises history in an elimination game. The first came in Game 6 of the '08 NBA Finals losing to the Boston Celtics by 39. The loss marked truly the end of an era in one of the greatest coaching careers not just in the NBA, but in all of sports. Hall of Famer Phil Jackson said repeatedly this would be his final season in a twenty-year coaching career no matter the result. Jackson returned to defend his title and capture his fourth career three-peat this season. We can now reflect on one of greatest minds the game as ever seen.

    Philip Douglas Jackson was born in Deer Lodge, Montana and from there the story began. After attending the University of North Dakota, Jackson was drafted by the New York Knickerbockers in the second-round of the 1967 NBA Draft. There he would learn formula of success under head coach Red Holzman. Holzman preached hit the open man, and it worked winning two NBA titles in the early 70's with wins in '70 and '73. Learning how to win early on laid the foundation for Jackson's future success as an NBA head coach. You can't imagine even Jackson foresaw the success he would accumulate over this twenty seasons on the sidelines. Jackson would play ten of his twelve seasons in the NBA with New York moving across the water and playing for the New Jersey Nets his final two seasons.

    Jackson was hired by the Chicago Bulls prior to the '89-'90 where they won 55 games in the regular season and eventually lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Detroit Pistons in a thrilling seven game series. Jackson's second season in the Windy City would began one of the greatest runs by a coach in sports history. In 1991, Jackson would lead the great Michael Jordan and the Bulls to their first of six NBA titles together. The Bulls would win three straight NBA titles under Jackson from '91-'93, but then came the abrupt retirement of number twenty-three. Jordan wanted to try and accomplish another one of his dreams and play Major League Baseball. After a year away from the NBA and an entire season in the minor leagues, Jordan returned to Jackson's side in 1994.

    In their first season reunited Jackson and Jordan would come up short losing in the second-round to the young Orlando Magic lead by Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal. Jackson came back with vengeance the following year leading the Bulls back to the NBA promise land. Chicago would began their second three-peat in the same decade winning in '96,'97, and '98. The '95-'96 Bulls won a record 72 regular season games helping Jackson win his only NBA Coach of the Year Award. Jordan retired from professional basketball after the '98 season, and Jackson would take a year off from coaching, ending a dynasty in Chicago.

    After not coaching in the '98-'99 season, Jackson would sign on to coach already one of the most decorated franchises in sports, the Los Angeles Lakers. With the most dominant center in the NBA and a skinny kid from Lower Merion High School, Jackson was about to embark on the next chapter of a storybook career. Jackson would restore order to the NBA in his first season in Los Angeles leading the Lakers to their twelfth NBA title in franchise history. It would start a familiar trend that was started nearly a decade earlier. Jackson would capture the third three-peat of his career, leading the Lakers to three straight titles in '00,'01, and '02.

    A year after their third straight title, Los Angeles was ousted from the postseason by the eventual NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs in the second-round. Both Veterans and future Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton joined Jackson and Co. in Los Angeles prior to '03-'04 season, looking to catch lighting in a bottle and capture their first career NBA championship. After all those battles in the late 90's with Jackson as a member of the Utah Jazz, Malone finally decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Although it was not a fairy tale ending for the Lakers that season as injuries derailed the veterans down the stretch and they would lose in the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons. The aftermath would lead to the dismantling of a dynasty. Payton and Malone both retired following the loss and after very publicized war of words 'O Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. 

    Jackson decided to take a year off from coaching again and turned the reigns over to former Houston Rockets coach, Rudy Tomjanovich. After only 42 games as the head coach Tomjanovich resigned due to health issues as long time assistant Frank Hamblen finished out the season as the man in charge. Jackson would return to the Lakers for the '05-'06 season and it would be a while before he would taste glory once again. After back-to-back first-round exits against the divisional rival Phoenix Suns, Bryant began to plot his exit from the only organization he had ever known. Jackson worked his magic yet again convincing Bryant something special was on the horizon and it was.

    The Lakers young players began to come into their own and had a great first half in '08. Former first round pick Andrew Bynum was emerging as a dominant post presence, but was injured in a game against the Memphis Grizzles and was lost for the season. A season that looked so bright seemed to come crashing down with their twenty-one-year old center. Then came one of the greatest and lopsided trades in Lakers history when they acquired All-Star forward Pau Gasol from Memphis, with draft burst Kwame Brown the centerpiece of the deal. Jackson and Bryant would ride Gasol to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2004. Although they lost to the hated Boston Celtics in six games, a dynasty was born.

    Jackson would surpass Red Auerbach's record nine NBA titles with his back-to-back titles in '09 and '10 with Los Angeles. Jackson contemplated retirement following the epic seven games series with the Boston Celtics, but decided the excitement of chasing a three-peat was far too great and returned for his twentieth and final NBA season. A lot was on the line for Los Angeles this season with their sights directly on their 17th NBA championship in franchise history, which would have tied the Celtics for the all-time lead. Jackson was going for his fourth career three-peat and his record twelfth NBA title, six with Jordan and six with Bryant. Bryant would finally reach a number he had been chasing for so long and tying the greatest of all-time with six rings. Neither of those happen.

    To reflect on Jackson's final season and series, they were much in the same. Los Angeles was out played by a Dallas Mavericks team that at times seemed more hungry for a shot at a title then they did. Many will say Gasol is to blame for Los Angeles's early postseason exit, but that is simply not the case. Yes, Gasol did not play like the player we have grown accustom to the past several years, but the bench play of the Mavericks and ability to knock down three-pointers is what did the Lakers in. The Dallas bench scored 198 points in the series compared to the Lakers 89 in four games. Dallas set an NBA postseason record with 49 three-pointers made in a four game series, with the Lakers only knocking down 15.

    2009 Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry tied an NBA postseason record in Game 4 with nine three-point shots made, along with Dallas also tying a postseason record with twenty-three-point field goals made in a single game. Those numbers tell the story of an up and down season for the two-time defending champions. The Lakers came out of the All-Star break surging going 17-1 in their first 18 games back, but struggled heading into this years postseason. During Jackson's career you thought he had seen it all from the sideline, but had never been swept or in an 0-3 series hole until Sunday afternoon. After a frustrating first-round series with the New Orleans Hornets, the Lakers looked tired and old after three straight trips to the NBA Finals. The season resulted in a sweep at the hands of just a better team.

    If this is fact the final season that Jackson coaches in the NBA, he has left quite a legacy. In his twenty seasons as an NBA head coach, he made thirteen trips to the NBA Finals winning eleven of them. His 1,155 career regular season wins are fifth on the all-time coaching list in NBA history. He ranks first with a winning percentage of .704 and in postseason wins with 229. Jackson never recorded a losing season during his time in NBA. For those who will say Jackson was the beneficiary of having two of the greatest players in NBA history is just denying greatness, if that were the case the New York Yankees would win the World Series every year. Former Los Angeles Laker player and current assistant coach, Brian Shaw seems to be the air apparent to fill the head coaching vacancy, who is more than qualified for for the job spending the last six seasons under Jackson. Shaw also won three championships as a player under Jackson from '00-'02.
    Jackson's five kids chose to fly into Dallas for Game 4 realizing the magnitude of what was at stake in American Airlines Arena Sunday afternoon. Known as the "Zen Master" Jackson's meditation method  and triangle offense has worked for twenty-years in the NBA and both been momentous to his success. This time it just wasn't the script to the Hollywood ending we were all anticipating.