Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE
Firing Mike Brown was a move of desperation. So too was trading for both Ramon Sessions and eventually Steve Nash.
The last two years of Lakers hoops have been filled with moves made to win right the F now. So far the results have been the same. Disappointing losses in the second round with uneven performances throughout the regular season.
So you’d think that the second Coach Brown was sent packing the team would have already had a plan in place. You generally don’t quit your job unless there is something you’re looking to pursue immediately after.
The Lakers’ brass showed they had no game plan by failing to secure the services of a championship caliber coach. Mike D’Antoni is a nice door prize if you’re looking to make it into SportsCenter top ten highlights but dude’s championship mettle is more aluminum foil than it is platinum.
Phil Jackson was there to be had. All Jim Buss had to do was swallow his trust funded pride and beg PJ to bring another banner to the rafters. Instead he took a half-hearted approach to pursuing Phil and the end result is a new rug when the roof is leaking.
Making matters worse is that men who know better are now following Trust Fund Buss like lemmings to their doom. Mitch Kupchak is even chiming in on Phil’s supposed foot dragging when he was offered the gig again.
That argument might hold water if D’Antoni was healthy enough to be coaching the team the same day his hiring was announced. But he isn’t. We won’t see D’Antoni on the sideline until…well…hopefully before Philly sees Andrew Bynum in uniform.
The real hope is that D’Antoni will pull a Billy Donovan, coming to his senses and walking away before even taking the throne. D’Antoni isn’t nearly as overmatched as Mike Brown but he is very much in over his head. Very few coaches are cut out for the pressure of the Purple and Gold.
One such man was Phil Jackson. Too bad the Lakers picked the worst time possible to play mind games with the king of them. That ill-fated decision will surely show its ugly mug at the most inopportune time.
Now nothing guaranteed a title had PJ re-returned to Los Angeles. Let’s not forget how his last year in L.A. ended. But if there is one coach out there you know could turn the tide in time to make this team a true contender it was Phil. Sadly the egos of the front office got in the way of sound decision making and it’s the Lakers themselves that will suffer.