Apr 2, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Phil Jackson looks on as the jersey of Los Angeles Lakers former player Shaquille O
Make room on the bandwagon of Mike D’Antoni doubters folks, the zen master is vying for the driver’s seat.
Kobe wasn’t going to let the Lakers miss the playoffs. We watched him go thru 3 anguishing plays-the last one devastating…
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) April 13, 2013
if he had gone to the bench after the 2nd mishap? Like Rose of
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) April 13, 2013
The Bulls one can guess, but what’s done is done. Reality not maybe is zen
First off, I think we all know that Bryant wasn’t going to take one step off that court until he put his team in the playoffs or until someone literally had to carry him off. Unfortunately it wound up being the latter.
“His message to me was, ‘Mitch, I hear what you’re saying, but we got to get into the playoffs,’ Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak recalled. ‘I’m playing and there’s nothing you can do about it.'”
S0 would it have mattered if Phil Jackson was one the sidelines. Could he have talked Bryant off the floor any easier than D’Antoni or Kupchak?
Probably not. And it doesn’t matter much at this point, seeing as hindsight is always 20-20.
It was, as Bryant said, ‘a move he’s made a million times’ before.
However, could we blame D’Antoni for not maximizing the talent on his roster. For making Bryant’s job that much harder than it needed to be?
Well, that’s fair. That’s a head coaches job.
Criticize the reason why the Lakers needed Kobe to play 45 minutes a night in the first place, not the minutes themselves.
Who or what do you blame for Bryant’s injury. Or is it even worth blaming anything at all?