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COMMENTARY
By Michael Ventre
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 2:09 a.m. ET Sept. 19, 2005
Phil Jackson versus Larry Brown.
The image that comes to mind involves a tall, lanky, square-shouldered man of 60, with silver goatee and perfectly cut Hugo Boss suit, standing on rickety knees in one corner, while in the opposite corner is a shorter, less distinctive-looking fellow, five years older, in glasses, thinning gray hair, also impeccably attired by Joseph Abboud. The bell rings, they meet in the middle of the ring and engage in an anything-goes toughman competition while drunks shout epithets and hurl cups of beer.
The reality, of course, is not that barbaric, the occasional bench-clearing brawl by their players notwithstanding. But it’s just as competitive. Jackson and Brown happen to be the two most prominent head coaches in the NBA today. An argument for inclusion can probably be made for Jerry Sloan, too. But until Sloan climbs down off his tractor and abandons the comfortable but fruitless roots in Utah for more fertile ground elsewhere, Jackson and Brown will hold claim together as pro basketball’s preeminent thoroughbred warhorses.
What makes their respective reigns so unique now is that Jackson has signed on for another hitch with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Brown is across the continent in New York, with the Knicks. Brown and Jackson will now put their reputations on the line from the Nos. 1 and 2 media markets, respectively.
Moreover, they will each be operating from a position of unusual weakness. Brown takes over a ragtag collection of washouts and malcontents with unwieldy contracts, led by a superstar in Stephon Marbury who left a trail of trouble when he arrived in the Big Apple. The coach will make the Knicks better, but he’ll need a team of personal physicians to be on call.
Jackson’s team is nothing like the Lakers’ club he left after the 2003-04 season, which ended with a loss in the NBA Finals to Brown’s Pistons. In some ways, that’s a blessing. He won’t have to stand in no man’s land while Shaq and Kobe lob grenades at each other.
On the other hand, he doesn’t have Shaq. Neither does he have old reliables like Rick Fox, Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Brian Shaw (although he’ll be an assistant coach) and Ron Harper. In their places are relative basketball bambinos in Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum, plus the detritus from the Shaq deal with Miami, the remaining morsel being Lamar Odom.
So which legendary coach will fare better in 2005-06?
If you put a gun to my head — and it would have to be large caliber — I’d have to lean toward Jackson, but not based on coaching prowess or even on the talent at each man’s disposal. It has more to do with peace of mind, or a lack thereof.
Jackson is taking over the Lakers with no illusion that he’ll be dancing amid fluttering confetti with a “NBA World Champions 2005-06” cap on next June while pretending to congratulate Kobe. He signed a contract worth $30 million over three seasons. He’s dating the boss’s daughter. He loves living in Los Angeles. The rest is gravy. If the Lakers finish with a better record than last season’s 34-48 — and even if every player comes down with a permanent case of vertigo, Jackson should be able to produce that from a chaise lounge — he’ll be happy. He has three years of overseeing a construction project, then it’s back to Montana
Brown, on the other hand, is much worse off, and I’m not sure he knows it yet. Thus far he has proved incapable of acknowledging just how hopeless the Knicks’ cause really is. He almost didn’t take this job because of health reasons; his heart, which appears to be sound, nevertheless is what led him into taking on a colossal challenge at age 65 in a town that is harder than a quarry.
Whereas Jackson will ride out the bumps in Los Angeles, Brown will feel each one in New York to his marrow. Make no mistake, he’ll do a tremendous job of coaching the team. When it comes to coaxing defensive effort and inspiring previously jaded ballplayers to embrace the ecstasy that is hoops, Brown has no peer.
But he is as restless and insecure as they come in sports. After only a few games in November, Brown will be consulting the mirror, asking just what the heck he was thinking. The New York media will embrace him initially, then toss him onto the third rail of the subway tracks at the first inkling of difficulty. By early December, Brown will be sending out feelers to his next employer. The Knicks will be a study in contrast: seriously improved at the hand of a master, but in turmoil because of his uncertain status.
In the final analysis, the Lakers and Knicks will be fairly close at the end of the season. The Lakers will compile a better record than they did last season, but they probably won’t crash the playoff bash in the fiercely competitive West. The Knicks also will have an improved mark, yet they may sneak into the postseason because the bottom two slots are probably up for grabs in the East.
That will make it appear that Brown has done a better job than Jackson. But in reality, Jackson’s roster is weaker, his expectations are lower, and at season’s end he will likely be perceived as someone who just might have done his best coaching job ever, considering the dire circumstances of the franchise when he re-upped.
Brown, however, will conclude a season having grappled with the demonic entity that is Marbury’s ego, and he will be fatigued, forlorn and longing for relief. Yes, the Knicks should make the playoffs, but they’ll probably get swept in the first round by Miami, Detroit or Indiana. The controversy that will surround Brown’s time in New York will leave the perception that he tried, but couldn’t handle it. Then he’ll retire — until another job offer presents itself.
Then Jackson will appear at the middle of the ring, his hand raised.
Michael Ventre is a frequent contributor to NBCSports.com and a free-lance writer based in Los Angeles.
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