May 15th: Mark Stein on why Phil Jackson returned to the Lakers.

 
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PostPosted: Mon May 15, 2006 7:35 am    Post subject: May 15th: Mark Stein on why Phil Jackson returned to the Lakers.

Tainting the town: Larry's legacy rotten in Big Apple
Stein
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
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It's hard to believe this now, knowing how drastically and shamefully their seasons differed, but it's a true story.

Larry Brown and Phil Jackson were motivated by a similar force when they washed ashore on opposite coasts to coach two of the most glamorous franchises on the NBA map.

Two similar forces, actually. You can't forget those matching eight-figure annual salaries.

Yet the force I'm referring to here is Red Holzman.

The legendary Holzman, remember, was Brown's childhood hero. Coaching the Knicks would have never been Larry's dream job without memories of Red.

Coaching the modern-day Knicks was Brown's chance to be Holzman.

Instead?

We can't know for sure, of course, but it hardly seems presumptuous to suggest that the late, great Holzman would rather not be linked to Larry. You suspect that he'd be happier to know that he was the Red -- as opposed to Red Auerbach -- who helped motivate Jackson to reunite with Kobe Bryant.

The Zen Meister knew today's Lakers would be years away from giving him a shot to break his nine-ring tie with Auerbach. But Jackson came back to them anyway, recalling that the Red who mentored him -- Holzman -- resurfaced in 1978 after a year away to coach the Knicks for four more seasons, none of them spent anywhere near title contention.

Jackson then delivered those 10 extra wins pundits like me promised. Check that: Jackson's Lakers won 11 more games than they had in 2004-05 and, with so much structure and confidence coming from the coach, went on to seize a 3-1 series lead over second-seeded Phoenix before their first-round fairy tale collapsed.
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