“I liked the personnel that they had. They had some young personnel, interesting personnel. The offer was probably the best offer that I’ve ever seen as a coach. It certainly wasn’t enough. I just didn’t think it has what a team has to have, a heartland, a fan base, an energy source.”
via Phil Jackson: Meadowlands Big Negative | The Lakers Nation.
That’s Phil talking about the offer from the Nets to coach back in ’99. We’ll look at this two ways.
1. It’s pretty awesome that Phil thinks that the fan base and energy source is so important. It would be really easy for a guy in his position to just take the payday. The fact that he actually considered the situation in terms of animus is really fascinating.
2. Of course, you know, it could have been the fact that New Jersey didn’t have the absolute best player in the game and God forbid he has to coach a team without the best player in the league alongside arguably the 2nd best player in the league. That would be far too much of a challenge.
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I wonder if Marbury had anything to do with it.
Kobe was not the second best player in the league in Summer 1999. Shaq and Duncan were #1 and #1a, depending on which city you lived in. Kobe didn’t become the best non-big man in the league until the 2000 playoffs.