Is Jackson ready for spot on coachings Mount Rushmore?
By Cedric Golden AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Sunday, June 14, 2009 Phil Jackson: coach for the ages? That debate has raged on for some time, but it’s sure to gain some steam after Jackson’s Los Angeles Lakers close out the outgunned Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. A win tonight or later in the week will give Big Chief Triangle his 10th NBA championship as a coach, surpassing Boston’s late Red Auerbach for the most rings in league history. But does that make Jackson the best of all time? Ask retired center Alonzo Mourning, and he will tell you Kobe Bryant deserves some coaching credit. Besides that horrific underbite he unleashed in these playoffs, we’ve seen Kobe take on a real leadership role on the bench. He’s implored his teammates to play harder on defense. During Game 4, he drew up a play for Pau Gasol, who nodded like a kindergartner who had just made it through his ABCs for the first time. Bryant can smell this title and even if his reasons for wanting it are different — a quiet d
