The Play's the Thing

Good morning!

Call it A Tale of Three Cities: It was the worst of times (then, it got better for a second -- until last night); it was the ... mediocrest of times (now, it's better for a second); it was the best of times (and still is).

With Shaquille O'Neal injured and Ron Artest keeping his hands to himself, New York, Los Angeles and Detroit (respectively) are the trifold fulcrums upon which the NBA world is turning at this early point in the season. Last night, two of those pivot points met, as the Lakers' three-game losing streak and the Knicks' two-game winning streak both ended in a 97-92 victory by L.A. And as the spotlight shone on these two sub-playoff-level teams, the Pistons, again in the midst of a long layoff preceding another road trip, quietly waited in the wings.

Watching that game last night, I was struck by a couple of things. First, it was very competitive. Both of those teams are about the same level. Second, I thought, "Is Larry Brown mental? Why would any sane man leave a Detroit team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals three times in a row, went to the NBA Finals twice, and won an NBA Championship the year before last to coach this shoddy band of refugees and misfits??" The answer to that is obvious, of course; teachers teach. Sure, there are other things at work -- childhood dreams, where to raise the kids, the desires of his wife, the fact that Dumars and Davidson were pretty tired of Larry's act all around -- but, whether it's fueled by nobility or hubris, Coach Brown has taken it upon himself to travel from city to city and teach dysfunctional (or, in the case of the Pistons, highly functional) teams how to play basketball The Right Way. It's a dirty job, but no one else is doing it as well as he.

But what the heck is Phil doing here? His immediate team history and girlfriend's parentage aside, this is not a Phillip Jackson scenario. You have a young phenom whose team needs a little direction to get it to the promised land? Call Phil. You need a coach to manage the disparate personalities of a couple of all-time talents? Phil's your man. But, if you need somebody to take one superstar and a bunch of rejects (not to be unkind, but has any team really embraced any of the players on this Lakers squad besides Kobe? Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown, Smush Parker, Chris Mihm ... not exactly darlings of management at their previous stops -- rightly or wrongly), you don't call Phil. In that case, you lose Phil's number and call Larry Brown. Or Alvin Gentry, if you're not too pressed about it.

So, why is Phil here? Why is he allowing himself to become apoplectic because his guys don't know how to run the triangle? What would possess him to take over the reins, for the first time in his NBA head coaching career, of a team that has no chance of winning a title? Is it the love of basketball? Nah. Not by itself. The network commentators love the sport. Is it the money? Not really. Any network would have paid him a boatload of John Madden-level cash to be in their booth. Plus, the endorsements that would come from such a move could be staggering. (NBA Live 2006 would be even more interesting as Jackson 2007.) Could he still feel he has something to prove? Doubtful. He has nine Championship rings. So ...

It's the thing behind and beyond all of those things. It's the thing that really motivates Larry Brown, and probably most of the others who are successful.

It's The Play.

The Play is the thing. It's the grandiose, dramatic stage that is the platform for your performance as a Player in the NBA. Not just a guy who throws on a uniform and gets on the court, but The Players. Chris Mihm and Antonio Davis are players. Shaq is a Player. Kobe is a Player, LeBron is a Player. Isiah Thomas is a Player and he hired the absolute diva of all Players in Larry Brown. The Play is where the spotlight shines, and it doesn't fall on the orchestra. You've gotta be on stage to get that shine. To catch the roses from the balcony. To earn the applause.

Sure, it's ego driven. But what competitor isn't? Phil took a year off from the spotlight and then, like any great performer, coasted back out from the wings for his encore. Will this (Lake)show ever be as successful? Probably not. But both he and Larry will continue take center stage, getting all the attention, getting all the reviews. Good ones, bad ones, who cares? At least they're still Playing.

Meanwhile, much further off Broadway than Larry, the Pistons little production getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger ...