@beanpot said:Great post, thanks.
I really enjoy Simmons when he's writing about hoops. His podcasts are must listen. Can't say the same for his thoughts on baseball, but the man sure knows basketball.
FWIW, Phil Jackson was on the Dan Patrick radio show this morning and given the choice of starting a team with Paul, Wade, James or Howard...he chose Howard. Talked about the value of the bigs and their longevity.
Personally, I think he's nuts (at least until Howard develops a 15' jumper) but the man has the rings, not me.
Well, Phil has had enough time with a dominant big who can't shoot to save his life, and he still chose Howard. So that says something.
But Phil has a reputation of saying things in the media that send messages and motivate his team, but doing it in in-direct ways. There is an outside chance that this statement by Phil was a stamp of approval on the idea that Shaq was the key piece to those 3 Laker championships, and he's saying it to motivate Kobe.
That might make no sense to anyone else, but it makes sense to me and I wouldn't put it past Phil.
