LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson has been throwing darts at opposing players and coaches for nearly 20 years as a Hall of Fame coach. He has proven to be the master of mind games and has been known to throw even the game’s best players off of their game with his subtle jabs aimed at their heart and even their manhood.
But Jackson may have met his match when he targeted former 2-time MVP Steve Nash before the tip-off of the Western Conference Finals match-up between the defending champion LA Lakers and the surprising upstart Phoenix Suns.
On Friday, Jackson got the old insult ball rolling when responding to a question asked by reporters over whether it will be tough to prepare for the frenetic style of play of Steve Nash.
Jackson responded:
“Yeah, because you can’t carry the ball like he does in practice,” while making the gesture of palming the basketball. “You can’t replicate picking that ball up and running with it.”
When informed of Jackson’s comments, Nash had quite the witty response:
“It’s news to me. I’m fortunate. I don’t know if I’ve been called for a carry yet. I’ve never heard of anyone accuse me of carrying it. I mean, the best coach in the league, Greg Popovich of the Spurs didn’t have a problem with it last week!”
Funny stuff. Get it? Greg Popovich as the best coach in the league? While a few may agree, Popovich’s 4 titles are nowhere near Jackson’s 10 rings. In addition, hasn’t Kobe Bryant gotten away with a whole lot more than Nash over the years? And back with Chicago, although he is the greatest of all-time, Michael Jordan practically invented the traveling violation. Guess it’s ok when your player does it?
Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry joked at Jackson’s attempt to get in his players’ heads:
“You’ve got to admire Phil. C’mon, the stuff that he throws out there. He’s very creative. If you let it affect you, then it will.”
But he then added a zinger of his own aimed at the Lakers physical style of play:
“We spent the day ducking elbows on post-ups, to see if we could duck elbows on post-ups. So it all works out.”
One thing is for sure that although the Western Conference Finals officially begins on Monday, the war of words has already begun.
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
