Over the course of the past three decades, the NBA has been home to numerous Super Teams. The Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat, and most recently the Golden State Warriors and the Brooklyn Nets.
And while many of them turned out to be incredible success stories, some of them ended up being expensive flops. The 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers border on this standard of measurement. They literally added Karl Malone and Gary Payton to a Kobe-Shaq team.
An NBA Finals appearance is by no means a catastrophic failure. However, given the star power the franchise possessed, a title was the basic expectation of the newly designed team.
Having won the coveted treble between 2000 and 2002, the Los Angeles Lakers led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant were by far the best franchise in the league. However, an abrupt loss to the San Antonio Spurs in 2003 meant that their aspirations for a fourth championship had to be put aside. For the time being.
As such, the Lakers hierarchy planned to revamp the roster to maximize production and productivity between O’Neal and Bryant. Come on in, Karl Malone and Gary Payton!
The ‘All-Star’ duo was acquired by the franchise in 2003, with the intention of creating a super team.
And while the players were rejoicing and elated at his arrival, one man was not on board with the strategy: Phil Jackson!
Phil Jackson was against the signing of Gary Payton
The term serial winner epitomizes Phil Jackson. The 77-year-old is an 11-time NBA champion as a coach and a two-time NBA champion as a player, courtesy of the 1970s New York Knicks!
His great success is a testament to the wealth of knowledge he possesses about the game. He allowed him to lead three of basketball’s greatest players to rack up multiple NBA titles.
So when the former Lakers head coach expressed his desire not to sign Payton, the Lakers hierarchy refused to acknowledge his demand.
An excerpt from Three Ring Circus, a book by Jeff Pearlman has provided valuable insight into the Los Angeles Lakers dynasty that ruled the NBA from 1996 to 2004. Pearlman explained how the scenario played out:
“Phil Jackson never wanted Gary Payton to be a Laker. True, and while the Los Angeles coach greeted the veteran point guard’s signature with smiles, nods, and a big thumbs-up, he’d been in the business long enough to know that even the smoothest operation was always a bad apple removed. the rot. In this acquisition, however, Jackson had no say. Shaquille O’Neal, He aspired to put together a super team.
Pearlman continued:
“Kobe Bryant aspired to put together a super team. Karl Malone aspired to be part of a super team, but not without Payton, his old rival/friend. So even though triangle offense was no place for a score-first point guard with an ego and a love of dribbling forever, and despite Jackson considering Derek Fisher the perfect running back for the program, Jim Buss, the son of Jerry Buss and the team’s assistant general manager, insisted that Payton be signed. And now he was a Los Angeles Laker.”
Perhaps if Derek Fisher had been given a chance to run the point, the Los Angeles Lakers could have possibly captured their fourth NBA championship.
Could the Lakers have won their fourth championship under Derek Fisher?
There often comes a time when one must decide what the ultimate criteria are when it comes to building a championship-winning roster.
it’s courtesy pieces or a credible star pool.
There is no guarantee which tactic might work, but most of the time the former prevails, considering that there are players who are willing to sacrifice their game and style to live up to the team’s aspirations.
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