Only Adding To Our Legend

G.O.A.T.

And then it was finally over.

Although not official, the collective consensus around the NBA is that this was Phil Jackson's last season as an NBA coach. With the Lakers' backs against the ropes down 0-3 to the Dallas Mavericks, Game 4 was the complete opposite of everything Phil Jackson represented. From being 30 pieced in the third quarter, to Andrew Bynum getting ejected for this cheap shot, to the Lakers being swept (something that has never happened in Phil's 20 year coaching career), everything was just so unlike Jackson basketball. To top it off, the Mavericks and Jason Terry both set playoff 3 pointer records in Game 4.

Before the final buzzer even sounded in Game 4 people were already debating about what this series would do to Phil Jackson's legacy. The answer is nothing. What Jackson has accomplished puts him above any other coach in league history. The only other coach who comes close in comparison is Red Auerbach, who had those stacked Celtics teams in the 1960s. Now there are those who say Jackson only won because he had the best players in Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant. That's true, he did have the best players and the best teams. In fact, he did not win when he didn't have the best teams. He failed to win in the mid 90s when Jordan did his baseball thing. When Shaq left for Miami, he didn't win until the Lakers were literally handed Pau Gasol for next to nothing. It only seems natural to say that they players won for Jackson and he was only there to supervise.

As having Hall of Fame players helped win championships, what set Jackson apart from others was his ability to take different players and truly make them united as a team. The one thing the Zen Master could do better than anyone was take superstars with huge egos and make them buy into his system of teamwork. Everyone says that when Kobe and Shaq are on the same team it should be easy to when a ring. However, it is not so easy to take their egos and make them coexist on the same team. That is what made Phil Jackson the greatest, and why he has a record 11 rings.

So as we are all here to witness an end of an era, there may never be another Phil Jackson. He had his own techniques (there's been stories of everything from incense and yoga in the locker room to Buddhist lectures and meditation on the plane rides from arena to arena). He was always calm and let his teams play through adversary. He believed that basketball could be more than a game and that it could offer life lessons. In all other words, Phil had a certain coolness about him. He became the standard for coaching today. If this is truly his last season he is destined to be imitated but never duplicated.

Mission Accomplished

As with most of the country, I was up in amazement last night as the internet and news outlets alike were buzzing about the death of Osama Bin Laden. It seemed like the impossible. For almost ten years Bin Laden had avoided capture by the U.S military, even with a $25 million dollar international bounty on his head. Then with a single bullet to the head, the leader of Al-Qaeda and the world's most dangerous terrorist was dead.

Bin Laden had become kind of a mythical figure over the years. In hiding since 2001, he had remained undetected and rarely seen. Assumed dead numerous times, Bin Laden had only been seen through his many personal video tapes that he filmed to assure his well-being. He was assumed to be hiding in the mountains of Pakistan but his exact location was never able to be obtained. Despite being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for years he was unable to be captured during President Bush's two terms. During President Obama's late night announcement last night he claimed that he had obtained a tip regarding his whereabouts in August of 2010. On May 1st a small team of U.S. soldiers raided the mansion he was staying in and killed him.

Late last night there were crowds of people at the White House in celebration of Bin Laden's death. They cheered and sang God Bless America, The Star Spangled Banner, and We Are the Champions by Queen. Yes, even We Are the Champions. The mastermind behind the worst terrorist attacks on American soil had finally been killed. People were once again proud to be an American, and for the moment they now felt safe to be an American.

Perhaps it's only fate that the death of Osama Bin Laden would come on the eighth anniversary of President Bush giving his speech where he claimed that the mission was accomplished after the major combat in Iraq. Now we all know that there will always be terrorism. With Bin Laden gone it's only inevitable that someone will step up and fill his shoes. But for today, the Obama Administration can kick back, light a cigar, and pop a bottle of champagne. They have closed the chapter on that era, and the mission is truly accomplished.

G.O.A.T.

Mission Accomplished

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