Jackson
hints that Jordan could replace Bryant
Karl
Peterson
With
speculation swirling around Los Angeles
Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant's status for
the upcoming season, Lakers' coach Phil
Jackson has said that he would consider
bringing in his ex-player with Chicago Bulls,
Michael Jordan.
Jackson
said after the interview with a Chicago
reporter that he only brought up Jordan
in jest and Jordan replied that the possibility
of his return to basketball is "100
percent no."
With
the signing of Karl Malone, Gary Payton,
Horace Grant and Long Beach State alum Bryon
Russell in addition to a team full of players
that have won three out of the last four
NBA championships, the question arises does
Los Angeles even want Michael.
After
the last time Jordan said that his return
to basketball was "100 percent no"
he signed with the Washington Wizards in
what turned out to be a most unceremonious
return.
His
team failed to make the playoffs in the
two years after his second-coming out of
retirement and he reportedly clashed with
players and coaches, and then was denied
the front office position he vacated to
return to the court.
If
Jordan was not so busy trying unsuccessfully
to purchase an NBA team the so-called "greatest
player of all-time" should consider
coming back to his former coach who is "the
greatest coach ever."
Jordan's
place as the deity of all things basketball
was nothing more than the fact that he won
championships when the league was devoid
of competition and his marketability to
sell Nike shoes and Gatorade sports drinks.
It
was no coincidence that Jordan never won
anything without coach Jackson, both in
the six NBA years prior to his championships
with the Bulls and his two forgettable years
with the Wizards. Even his championship
with the University of North Carolina was
on a team that belonged to Dean Smith and
James Worthy.
All
of you with Jordan posters on the wall underneath
the poster of whichever front runner you
follow now should remember the years Michael
spent toiling and getting drubbed out of
the playoffs by teams led by Larry Bird
and Isiah Thomas before he could even make
it to the finals to face the real greatest
player of the last 25 years, Magic Johnson.
Sure
Jordan was able to beat the Lakers for his
first championship, but the Lakers were
an aging team and Johnson and Byron Scott
sat out most of the series with hamstring
injuries, and of course Jordan had Jackson.
Unlike
Jordan, Magic was able to make an immediate
impact on his team. Johnson filled in for
an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the
finals of his rookie season playing all
five positions and scoring 42 points, grabbing
15 rebounds and tallying 15 assists to clinch
the playoff series one year after the 20
year old Johnson led his Michigan State
team to a NCAA championship.
All
Johnson did after that was take his team
to eight of the next 10 NBA Finals, winning
four more championships winning the finals
MVP three of those years and the league
MVP three times as well.
So
if Jordan wants to change his "100
percent" decided mind again and come
back to the Lakers I'm sure Jackson would
find a spot on the bench where "his
airness" could ride Jackson's coattails
to another NBA title.
Karl
Peterson is a journalism student at Cal
State Long Beach.
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