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By Zac Williams. June 14, 2008
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I think now is as good of time as any for the argument. Is Phil Jackson actually the greatest NBA coach of all-time or has he just been blessed with the greatest players to ever play the game? Players like Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant, who all are and will be hall of famers.
Jackson leads almost every statistic of coaching from most regular-season wins (976 W - 418 L) to most playoff wins (191 W - 82 L) to his nine NBA championships. It seems legitimate that would be all a guy needs to claim the title "greatest coach ever."
So what happened during game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics? LA had a 24-point lead and lost the game. How can this happen? It's not the first time a team has overcome such a demanding lead in an NBA game but it is the first time ever in the Finals. Last time I checked, when a team loses a game like this there's usually a reason, either poor offense or poor defense throughout the entire game or at a certain critical point. Game 4 is nothing but proof Phil Jackson is NOT a great coach! Even if the game had been close the entire way I think anyone will agree it's probably a good idea to have LA's starting lineup play most of the fourth quarter (Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, and Vladimir Radmanovic). These players owned 76 of LA's 91 points scored in the game. But no, Jackson thinks it's a better idea to keep the entire bench in the game with Kobe Bryant to close out the Celtics, who owned the best record in the league this year. Well until the final two minute point when he finally inserts Derek Fisher back into the game.
Does anyone remember Michael Jordan resting the first 4 minutes of any fourth quarter? Ever?? Why would you make it a point to do it with Kobe Bryant all season long then when he's most compared to Jordan over all other players? Sorry coach, but you are the reason for the loss in game 4. Period. You fell asleep with a 24 point lead and woke up with two minutes left down 5 points. And then you blame the team for playing poorly? LMAO! Get real! I don't care how badly any team is playing ever, it is up to the coaching staff to make adjustments throughout the game to give the team the best possible chance of winning. Phil Jackson did the exact opposite in front of millions of people around the world on basketball's biggest stage.
Phil: If you and the Lakers can somehow be the first team in Finals history to comeback from a 3-1 deficit, I will take everything back and truly believe you are the greatest coach ever. If not, you're just as useless as Luke Walton is to the Lakers and you should be fired.
You were there.