In the Los Angeles Lakers' VIP meeting room in Los Angeles.
Heavy wooden blinds kept out the scorching California sun. Only a few dim wall lamps were on inside, and the air was filled with the bitter taste of burnt-out cigars and a lingering sense of unease. The new general manager Mitch Kupchak, sat in a corner, clutching a thick data report tightly in his hand, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Jerry Buss rubbed his throbbing temples and leaned wearily against the leather sofa. Scattered on the table were the statistics of the NBA Finals loss and the wild speculation from various sports media outlets about the breakup of the " OK Duo ".
In the most prominent and central position, several local Boston newspapers, flown in from the East Coast, were prominently displayed.
After two weeks of development, these newspapers published in early July were no longer just simple post-game news flashes, but had been replaced by "in-depth season review columns." The front pages of several major newspapers were all dissecting the deep logic behind the Western Conference powerhouse's collapse in the NBA Finals in an almost autopsy-like manner.
At the very center of these lengthy pronouncements, a short, dismissive, and cold sentence uttered by Celtics president Lin Qi during the NBA Finals has been highlighted and amplified as the key to the entire incident...
Who is Kobe?
The accompanying editorial bluntly pointed out: Los Angeles fans thought they had the most dazzling talent in the league, but against Boston's tightly knit system, this undisciplined stacking of stars was a joke. The question "Who is Kobe?" was not only a disregard for a young player, but also a public execution of the Lakers' entire team-building philosophy.
Those few words were like poisoned needles, stabs that made the entire Los Angeles management team lose face.
Phil Jackson sat calmly at the other end of the bench, his eyes slightly closed. His face showed no panic at losing the championship, only a calm that seemed to have seen through everything.
" Jerry ( Jerry Buss ), everyone outside is talking about who's right and who's wrong between Shaq and Kobe, and some are even criticizing Lin Qi..." Jackson raised his eyelids and slowly said in his signature deep voice, "But all of that is just the surface. The real fatal flaw is... Kobe's path to success has determined that he simply cannot understand what teamwork or sacrifice means."
Kupchak couldn't sit still any longer. He leaned forward, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "Coach, you're right. Kobe's agent called again this morning, and his attitude was very tough. Lin Qi's words really affected him. These past few days, Kobe has locked himself in the gym for crazy extra training, almost to the point of self-torture. But the conflict between him and Shaq has been completely out in the open. The two haven't even exchanged a single word in private, let alone played side by side next season."
Phil Jackson chuckled softly, a hint of world-weariness in his eyes.
"Young people have a temper, that's normal," Phil Jackson smiled faintly. "Back then, Michael was even more stubborn than Kobe is now. Everyone witnessed his transformation... see how he gradually let go of that extreme individualism after being defeated by opponents time and time again, and finally truly integrated into the system."
Jackson raised his eyes, his deep gaze sweeping over the crowd. "Did you think Michael Jordan was born knowing how to get along with his teammates? No. In 1986, at the Boston Garden Arena, he scored a playoff record 63 points, and what happened? He was still swept by the Celtics. Larry Bird's words Larry Bird are known throughout America: 'Tonight, God wore Michael's jersey, but the Celtics won.' After that, against the Bad Boys ' in Detroit, he was repeatedly crushed by the ' Jordan Rules ' on the hardwood floors, leaving him battered and bruised."
The air in the conference room gradually froze as he spoke.
" Michael knew he needed good teammates because he had experienced the helplessness of fighting alone." Jackson tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "In his early years with the Chicago Bulls, he didn't have a dominant force like Shaq to rule the paint. He tried to carry everything himself, tried to score forty or fifty points every game, but all he got in return was the despair of being ruthlessly eliminated time and time again. He tasted failure, he felt heartbroken, so he finally learned to compromise, to give up some ball possession, and to understand that only by making the whole system work could they overcome the walls of Boston and Detroit."
Jackson then shifted his tone, adding a touch of analysis and deep sigh for Kobe.
"But what about Kobe? He was too young. He hadn't experienced that kind of crushing defeat, hadn't felt the helplessness of fighting alone without good teammates. He was too lucky. He entered the league standing on the shoulders of giants, directly having Shaq, the spotlight, a big city, and the opportunity to be one step away from a championship. He didn't think that having a teammate like Shaq was such a rare and precious luxury that needed to be carefully protected."
Jackson looked around at everyone and uttered a comment that instantly silenced the entire conference room.
"Because he has never truly fallen into the depths of despair, he naturally assumes that all the honors and spotlight are earned by himself. The current Kobe is destined to be 'uncoachable.'"
"Unfit to coach?" Kupchak gasped, his voice trembling slightly. "Coach, you mean...?"
"What I mean is, he has to face and experience the despair, failure, and helplessness of leading a team alone, to completely crush that innate arrogance in the cold reality, before he can truly transform." Jackson leaned back in his chair, his tone as calm as a cold scalpel. " Lin Qi's words only prematurely detonated the demons within him. He now refuses to make any tactical compromises under Shaq's absolute dominance; he's obsessed."
Jackson turned his head, looked directly at Jerry Buss, and stated the cruelest reality.
"He needs to grow, he needs to experience crushing defeats to learn humility. But the problem is... Los Angeles doesn't have the patience or time to wait for him to grow up, and Shaq can't afford to wait either."
The meeting room fell into a deathly silence once again. The faint sounds of tourists outside the Staples Center could be heard through the window, but inside it was as cold as an icebox.
Jerry Buss closed his eyes, his hands trembling slightly. He knew Kobe too well; this young man possessed a rare obsession and hunger for victory, the most unmatched in the entire league. He had once seen Kobe as the future of the Lakers. But now, he knew that some rifts were beyond repair.
" Shaq won't wait for him, and the other teams in the league won't stop to wait for him either..." Jerry Buss slowly opened his eyes, his cloudy eyes revealing a lingering weariness and determination. "If we don't personally pull this runaway car back now, the entire Los Angeles Lakers will fall off the cliff with him."
Mitch Kupchak swallowed hard. "Boss, you mean... we're really going to put him on the shelf?"
"This isn't us 'giving up' on him, Mitch." Phil Jackson leaned back slightly, his hands casually folded on his knees. "This is helping him, and it's helping Los Angeles. Some prices he has to pay himself. Some despair he has to taste himself. When he's isolated and battered on another team, he'll truly understand what it means to be on the NBA Finals stage."
Jackson stood up, straightened the wrinkles in his suit, said nothing more, and walked straight out the door.
Watching the Zen Master's resolute departing figure, Jerry Buss sighed deeply. In that sigh lay the pain of a creator destroying a masterpiece of art with his own hands. He turned his head to look out the window at the Staples Center, which was somewhat distorted by the scorching California sun. Finally, with great difficulty, he nodded to the new general manager.
"Send faxes to all the teams in the league."
Jerry Buss's voice was as soft as a whisper.
"Tell them that the doors of Los Angeles are... open."